Radiant Darkness II Blue Dusk: The Azure Kinght
by Klaiborne Lorenzo
Summary: 6 months after RDI Sonic and Amy are now part of the Cramosi. Sonic goes through the trials of being the knight to protect his friends from the evil that hunts them, that is when he runs into an unlikeable person to help him.Will the two lovers trust him. WARNING rated T for intense violence, blood and gore, language,
1. Prologue: Return of the Crimson claw

_**Prologue: Return of the Crimson claw**_

Say hello to the second book of RD the RD Saga! Hope you guys are as excited as me. (for those of you who like it I mean) Now remember this is the SECOND book. If you haven't read the first one I highly recommend you hit the back key and look for Radiant Darkness one. I mean if you want.

_**For all readers**_: this story is part of the second book. It's like a night and day side of both stories. This side is the dusk side. This is just you guys can get both sides of the story. This side features the Cramoisi, the group who is later to run into the Dusk Raider Pirates, but what is to happen once they meet? Well you'll have to read BOTH Sides of the story to find out.

Now please enjoy what is Radiant Darkness

Off panel:

Yup! It's back! I hope you guys like it! It's totally awesome.

Richter was jumping round the large jungle of Adabat. He was garbing on vines and swinging, yelling like Tarzan. Little that he knew he was being watched by a group or pink monkeys. Richter jumps down to a near fruit market. He looks around and sees a basket of Apples. He grabs on and bites it.

"Hey! What's the big Idea!" said the apple vendor.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Here's a ten"

"but their only 10 cents" Richter doesn't pay attention and grabs three more. *He eats all three on one bite.

"Ah….I love fruit!" He walks over to the mango vendor. "Hey how's it going!" The vender just stares at Richter blankly. "Nice weather huh? Humid….mild…tropical…Uhhhh…..did I say humid?" The vendor still stares at Richter blankly."Boy, you're a barrel of laughs." suddenly Richter is hit on the side of the face by a blackberry. "Who then he… Huh?"

Richter looks up and sees a group of monikers in a tree. They were all pink and had on black coats. They laugh at Richter as he wipes the blackberry off his face. "Look at that! An orange guy, with snakes on his head!" said one with sunglasses.

"They're dreadlocks!" Richter shouted.

"Oh and he says they are locked with dread!" the monkeys laughed

Richter growls in frustration. He looks at the fruit vendor who was just staring at him. "They're dissing my dreads!" Richter then feels a peach hit him on his head. GAH! OH THEY DID IT AGAIN! " the monkeys continue to laugh. "OH I'm GOING TO SLAM SOME MONEYS! How much for the mangos?"

"15 cents"

"Here's a twenty, by yourself an ice cream." *Richter gets out a few mangos and throws one of them at the one wearing the sunglasses. The monkey is thrown down onto the ground the other two monkeys stare at Richter in rage. They then jump in rage and screech.

"The orange snake hair returns fire!" said the second monkey

"Then it's WAR!" Screamed the third one,

"Oh yeah? Richter challenged "You and what army?" The monkeys scream again, and then in less than a second a large group of pink monkeys show up. The monkeys stare at Richter with an angry gleam. "oh….that army…."

The vendor gets out an umbrella and opens it up. "I'd start running if I were you."

"What? There just monkeys. what are they going to…." Richter then hears whissleing he turns around and sees an apple. The apple lands beside Richter. "HA! An apple? Really?" He picks it up and tries to take a bite then all of a sudden….

"Booooooommmmm!" the apple blows up. Richter wipes the apple mush off his face and sees more apples coming his way.

"Sweet Honey Ice Tea! Devil firut! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Richter runs as doges the exploding apples.

"I tried to warn him." The vendor said in a singing tone

"AHHHHHHHH!" Richter screams running in the jungle avoiding the trees and rocks, as the monkeys were swinging from the trees trying to hit Richter with apples. "Ok…all I have to do is just avoid the killer apples and…..OH GOOD GANDI! Richter sees lots and lots of cherries coming at him. " Oh….There just cherries…. no big deal. One of the cherries landed on a tree. The tree blows up leaving only half the tree. Richter's eyes went wide after that. AHHHH CHERRY BOMBS!" "What kind of crazy monkeys are these?" Richter shouted.

"BRING IN THE AMMO!" shouted a monkey with a large gun. Another monkey loaded the gun with papayas. The papayas go into a large glass tube the monkey locks on to Richter as he was run. He fires the gun, and it fires out small seeds like a machine gun while also ejecting the fruit as it continues to fire. The seeds come at Richter and hit him on his back.

"AH! OH! EE! GOH! OWW! AHHH!" Richter was getting hit by the tiny seeds" I hate those seeds! They taste so bad!" Richter continues to run dogging exploding apples, oranges, cherries and papaya seeds . "Blasted monkeys! Stop being so WHAAAA!" Richter was blasted in the air. "What hit me?" Richter falls on the ground but is then blasted back in the air by something on the ground. "Oh come on! Land Mines? "

"No..LIME MINES!" screamed a big monkey who had a gun pointed at Richter. "Snake hair! Prepare to taste fruit! Tons and tons of it! Fire the honeydews!" Smaller monkeys get out bazookas and fire honeydews at Richter. The all hit Richter hard and throw him back.

"Nooooooooooooooooo…." Everything was going in slow motion as Richter was getting blown by the explosive fruit. Oh..the in-fruit-manity!" Richter said slowly. Richter regains his balance and starts running again.

"YAH HA HA HA HA HA!" laughed a monkey. "YES! Make him suffer! Toss in the grenades!

"They have grenades?" Richter turns and sees monkeys pulling out triggers and throwing grenades. "They look like pears."

"Oh they are pears!" Richter continues to run but to no avail. One of the pears falls right next to Richter and blow up, unleashing a green mush on Richter. He feels a sharp pain all of his body. "AHH! What are these!

"Opuntia! Also known as….(singsong) Prickly pears" the monkey sang . "Taste cacti sting!"

Richter runs continuously getting hit by another Opuntia stick to his hair and blow up, stinging him with more thistles "AHHHHHH PAIN! AND SO STICKY!" He keeps running until he steps on a pumpkin. "AHHHH! What does this do? Wait….it's just a pumpkin….oh thank goodness it's not a fruit." He keeps running but he was much slower the pumpkin was slowing down.

"HA HA! He's weakening! Bring in….*zooms in face* the big one" said the big leader.

"So..tired…can't go on…." Richter was slumping as he was trying to run. He then hears an eerie whistle from a distance. "What on mobius…?" he looks up and sees a green missile with black of stripes. "Why does the author hate me?" the missile hits Richter, and explodes in a red gooey mess. He felt black seeds hit his back. The impact makes him hit the nearby tree. "Ahhhhh…..water….melon….bomb…oh…"

"Ooooooooo! that had to hurt! AH HA HA HA HA HA!" the monkey was laughing wildly until he saw Quinn right behind him with an evil glare and grin. "Wha.." Quinn chuckles and then whistles. In less then a second thousands of chao surround the monkeys with nuts, fruit, pies and cakes. The all see a bigger light brown chao with face pant and a large Indian hat slowly hover down. "Oh…boy..Cheif Chaoowaka!"

"Chao chao choa chi." Quinn told the chief.

"Chao chi. CHOA CHOA CHO!" the chief commanded the other chao to attack the monkeys with all their sweets.

"AHHH! They are heavily armed with sweets and angry yet cute chubby expressions! RETREAT!" shouted the monkey leader as all the monkeys swing away.

Quinn flies down to Richter. "Chao chao chi?"

"Yeah..I'm fine..thanks to tribal chao…." Richter gets his foot out of the pumkin. "After this experance….I may never touch fruit again. Ok maybe not."

"Choa chao cho?"

"Naw, the thorns only got my dreads"

Richter grabs one the thistles from his dreads. "mmmm…I wonder if this pear juice is good for my dreads" Richter started licking the thistle. (they were big thistles)*

"This…isn't over….orange snake hair…" said the large monkey "AHHH! " He was hit by a cake.

"Hey readers! It;'s me again Richter the echidna! Don't you just love me? Anywho…stay tuned and look for me..because I'ma going to actually be a part of this story! Heh heh. Not just the off panels either. Anywho until next time." Richter was not paying attention and he steps on a line mine. "HIGH GEE GEE! He lands on many other minds one after the other until he gets blown into the sky. Richter just stares at the sky sighing. "Well I was expecting this…

"Choa chi…" Quinn said sadly

"Till next time readers!"

And now for the original story.

_**Darcy's prov:**_

In this world, evil lives in each heart. There are some hearts that thrive on evil, most that are unwilling to yield to the light. We the Cramoisi crave that evil, and where ever evil sleeps we hunt it down and devour it. As we grow stronger with all the evil we eat, evil itself grows stronger. The organization known as the Council of the Cobalt Shroud hunts us down, and the Cramoisi my children thrive to get their fill of evil. I, Darcy and my husband rule over our children as the fangs of dark radiance. To this day, we rule over the only hope this world has: the Crimson Claw.

_**Normal Prov:**_

In the vast area known as kingdom valley there lived the Cramoisi. All the Cramoisi had their own room to sleep in. Many Cramoisi each had their own love partner; however there were a few who still look for one to be with. Through their tight struggles with an opposing council that's sole purpose is to Kill them, they all manage to survive. One of them was one of the leading members of the group. He was laying in a tree outside looking at the ever cloudy sky of the valley. He was a blue hedgehog, who wore a blue scarf and blue ripped up pants with blue and black shoes. He lays there in the tree outside of the castle, kicking his feet. As he lays there, his eyes slowly begin to wince. He tries to fight of the urge to sleep, but it soon overwhelms him and he drifts into a sleep

As he was sleeping he started to dream of a struggle going on in a small village. He sees a .large Red and Orange echidna, wearing a red coat, grey shirt and brown pants, was fighting his way though many guys in black clothes and had metallic parts. He was wielding two large green and orange hammers. The hedgehog looks at the echidna as he looks at an upcoming balled man who had on a white lab coat black shirt and black pants. The hedgehog turns around sees another smaller echidna who was trembling in fear. The hedgehog looks closely at the smaller echidna. One of his eyes looked as if there were black cracks in the irises. He was behind the older echidna about ten feet. He father echidna smiles looking at the man. Then a ball of yellow energy glows brightly in his right hand. The bald man's hand starts to glow a bright red. He points it at the echidna.

"This is it!" He heard the father echidna say. "…The wheel of fate is turning….how will it end? Not even I'm sure…..I'll tell you this much….try to take the emerald….and you'll all suffer..Everyone" The larger echidna smiles and chuckles.

The father echidna throws the large glowing ball of energy at the man. The man throws a larger ball of energy which swallows the yellow ball. The father looks stunned as the red ball was hurling at him. He looks back at his crying son, reaches out his hand and gets consumed by ball of energy. The hedgehog covers his eyes due to a bright flash. When he opens them he sees the entire village burning in flames. His eyes widen looking at the devastation around him, the corpses of the residence who lived in the village. What was really shocking was the large liquid like orange monster in front of him. One of his eyes irises had black cracks on in. He looks at the hedgehog with menacing eyes as the monster lets out a loud and powerful roar.

He wakes up from his sleep with a small gasp. He looks around and sees he's back in the tree.

"Sonic!" the hedgehog looks down and sees a pink hedgehog. She had long hair was wearing a purple dress with black sleeves with gloves showing the fingers and black pants, and boots. The blue hedgehog smiles and swoops down with his blue wings. He grabs the pink hedgehog and leans over to kiss her. Due to them both being Cramoisi vampires, their immortal bodies allow them to kiss as long as they wanted. After ten minutes they broke. She looks deeply in Sonic's eyes. "You doing ok?"

'Yeah Amy" Sonic said. "So…what's up?"

"I just came to see if you were doing ok. You seem to be a little down."

"Oh..I'm fine…It's just that…" Sonic looks down and looks away

"It's the dream again isn't it?"

"Yeah" Amy pretty much knows what Sonic was going through. Their bond has grown over the past months. "But I have no clue who he might be. It's not Knuckles….nor Julie…and what's with that…monster…it..looked like Chaos."

Amy walks over to Sonic's and hugs him. "I think you work too hard."

"What do you mean?

"Well you've been looking after everyone for some time. I think the stress is going to you. You need to calm down. After all….." Amy holds her stomach and closes her eyes, "You need to be strong…for the both of us"

Sonic looks at Amy and smiles. "Yeah….maybe you're right" all of a sudden the feel a strange vibe, as if someone was calling out to them. Sonic and Amy run into the castle.

They run into the throne room of the castle. There, the two of them saw a violet bat with a black shot dress that was ripped at the bottom, and no shoes. She sits there with her eyes closed. Both Sonic and Amy give a light bow. 'You called for us, Mother Darcy? What is it you need?"

The bat opens her eyes and looks at Sonic with a smile. "Sonic…can't I just call you to ask how you are doing?" the bat asked

"Well..Uhhh…" Sonic chuckles a little

"You seem to always come in here thinking that I need something. But…since you are here I do have a favor to ask you. But if you're too busy…"

Sonic sighs and looks at Darcy. "What is it?"

Darcy closes her eyes and breaths lightly. "Your brother…it seems he is in the city…and…I see…dark hearts…..and two hearts that are forlorn and dying…..your brother has already located the first…but the second one…is faint….can you please go and help him?"

"Say no more…" Sonic said giving his signature grin and thumbs up. "I'll find him, and these forlorn hearts." Sonic hugs and kisses Amy. "I'll be back...alright?"

Amy giggles and blushes "Ok!"

"Find them and bring them to me, if you please, Sonic?" Darcy said lifting her finger from her hand came a purple bolt of lightning which makes a portal at the end of the room. Sonic sprouts his wings. He steps back and speeds off in the portal.

Amy looks at the portal as it disappears. She turns back and looks at Darcy who got up and looks at the large purple and red lava lamps. Darcy looks at the lamps and smiles. "How can she love those things so much?"

_**The forlorn hearts **_

Meanwhile, a black hedgehog was in the park at night. He wore a black scarf with black pants. Standing next to him were two humans with wings on their backs. One of them was a blonde young man with a black trench coat, green shirt, and black pants; another one was girl with silver hair, wearing a blue tank top and back pants. Next to them was a younger blonde girl, laying on the bench She was wearing a white shirt with black pants. She had her eyes closed.

"Where is that faker?" the black hedgehog said

"Hang on Shadow, He'll be here" said the blonde young man.

Suddenly a purple portal shows up in front of them. Everyone saw Sonic jump out of the portal. "Hey bro"

"humph! Took you long enough" Shadow said.

Sonic walks over to the girl, laying on the bench. He leans over to the girl, he puts two fingers over her neck. He quickly moves his hands away from the girl. "She's..de…"

"Yeah. Shadow said "Found her at the bottom of a hill. She slowly passed after I brought her here. She's had quite a story before that fall"

"I see. Well a good thing I'm here then." Sonic gets out a purple bottle. "So..this is the first forlorn heart"

"you mean there's more?" asked the young girl

"One more we have to find" Sonic opens the cork and takes a bite of his finger. He sees the blood slowly escape his hand. He holds his bleeding finger over the bottle. His blood drops in the bottle, then the bottle starts to bubble. "Normally we would need the DNA of a person willing to accept this girl as a lover, but mom says this works just as well."

"Then do it already" Shadow said

Sonic nods and opens the girl's mouth. He pours a purple liquid in her mouth. After he was finished, Sonic steps back. The girl suddenly starts to shake, and then her eyes shot open. They were a light hazelnut color, soulless and empty.

"Her..eyes..their.."

"It's not done yet" Sonic said leaning over to the girl. "Listen to me..can you hear me?"

The girl gets up and stares blankly at Sonic.

"listen…I know it's kind of soon. But we have a job for ya." Sonic closes his eyes and looks around. All he sees is black all around him. He then sees silhouettes of different bodies. Each one was dark and shadowy with a web of dark red veins. He then sees four that were different from the others. Instead of dark red they were black as coal. Sonic smiles after seeing that. "Alright…go ahead and go after them."

"Don't you think it's kind of early to be doing that?" Daniel the blonde haired boy asked.

"What better way to awaken her?" Shadow asked

"Do you understand?"

The girl slowly gets up and looks at where sonic was pointing. She looks at Sonic and slowly nods, and quickly runs over to that direction. The girl slowly shows up in the alley. The guys see the girl stare at them. The guys smile at the girl, get up and run over to her. The girl then runs away from group. All of them were running after her, until the girl ran into another alley the girl suddenly trips at the end of the alley. She turns back at the 4 thugs who close in on her.

"Alright! A new body. Looks like it's the end for you" said one of the thugs.

"L-eeavvee meeeeee alone…." The girl said softly.

"Aww that's so cute. Tell you what we promise to cut you gently." said another one holding a knife.

The girl looks with a blank stare and then looks down. She starts to smile and chuckle.

"Huh what's so funny?" asked the third one.

A crimson shroud surrounds the girl. Her voice was dark and deep as she spoke. _When evil seeps from the shadows of light, it cowers at sight of crimson's gleam, and that evil shall be devoured by the Radiant Dark. _

"What are you blabbing about?" says the first thug.

"I…..will…..destroy…you all….." the girl said in a dark an menacing voice.

"Aww trying to be tough? Well we'll take care of that (heh, heh)

The four of them walked even closer to the girl. The girl just smiled and she started to growl, and look up and on her right upper arm a purple claw mark started to glow an ominous purple. Her body starts to shake as her fingernails became sharp and white, little fangs pop out of her mouth, wings came out from her back. Her body grows slightly taller, her ears get slightly longer and pointier, and finally the four thugs cower in fear as they saw her eyes glow an ominous red-violet. She lets out a small smile looking at her new body. She chuckles as she looks at her sharp fingernails. She looks at the crooks, and then she opens her mouth and let out a loud shriek. The shriek sounded like nails on a chalk board mixed with bat screeches, humans screaming as if they were getting burned, and speaker feedbacks at a large music concert.

The thugs cover their ears at the girl's bloodcurdling screech. The scream was so bad it literally made the thugs eardrums bleed. Then out of nowhere two other people showed up right in front of the girl. It was the blonde haired boy Daniel and the silver hair girl Rachel. Daniel looks at the girl and smiled.

"Looks like Sonic was right. You've fully awakened. Now, what's the problem little sister?" he asked.

"Oh, Big brother, these meanies were trying to do awful stuff to Me." said the girl sweetly

"Well Daniel, good thing we came here for our little sister when she "called" for us" said Rachel.

"Yes it was, wasn't it? Now how about we teach these black hearts what happens when you mess with the Cramoisi?"

"Oh, no not them we got to get out of here!" said the leader for the group

They turn around to run but on the other side of the ally were two hedgehogs. It was both Sonic and Shadow.

"Shadow, do you want to have a go?" asked Sonic

"Humph! Knock yourself out" Shadow said crossing his arms

As they look at the two standing there, the girl jumps at the third thug. The thug began to scream in terror.

"Aww don't worry I promise to be gentile" said the girl mocking the thug. She opens her mouth, revealing her newly found fangs and bites the thug on the neck.

Daniel grabs the shoulder of the leader and bites him while draining him. Rachel does the same with the second one. Sonic jumps on the last one, bites his neck and drains him too.

When they finished the thugs turn into ash after they were drained. Then Daniel looks at sonic who looks at him.

"Well looks like you were right." Daniel said

"She passed with flying colors!" Said Rachel smiling

Sonic turns her attention to the girl who was licking her fingers. "Yup! She gets a Rank *S* for sure!"

The girl looks at Sonic and the others. "Brother….what just happened? I thought I was gone."

"You were gone, but now you came back as one of us. This doesn't scare you does it?"

"No..it just feels strange. When I bit that man, it felt so right. The girl lets out a big yawn and stretches her arms and wings.

"Oh..by the way. I'm Sonic, Sonic the hedgehog. Who are you?"

The girl scoffs and looks the other way. "Nice title. Well anyway, My name is Tawny Ericson"

" Welcome to the Crimson Claw" Rachel said hugging Tawny.

"Yeah yeah thanks" Tawny quickly pulls away from Rachel.

"Well now that this is over with. How about we get…."

Everyone was quiet for a minute. They felt something strange…

"Do you feel it..Sonic?" Daniel asked

"Yeah….it's the forlorn heart….not too far from here."

Everyone ran out of the alley, and walked to a nearby building. There they caught the scent of something strong.

"Yuck! Was that you Daniel?" Rachel asked covering her nose.

"No…it's something else"

"What died?" Tawny asked covering her nose

"Besides you..I'm not sure" Shadow answered.

Sonic then sees someone on the ground. He sees a midnight black hedgehog he had on a leather coat with blue jeans and orange eyes he was breathing really hard and barely alive. Sonic came up to him he was shivering the cold rain.

"Hey buddy…you alright?" Sonic asked the quivering hedgehog who was coughing uncontrollably.

"Please….help me…." He said quietly.

Sonic looks as he continues to cough roughly. He kneels down to his level. "I can save you but you have to trust me, ok?"

The black quivering hedgehog looks at Sonic's Red-violet gaze and nodded and closes his eyes. Sonic then calls Tawny.

"Tawny, this will be your first time.

"Time to do what?"

Sonic points at the Black hedgehog. "He is a forlorn heart that is worthy to accept the manifest. You'll know what to do. Are you ready?"

"Yeah I guess" said Tawny

Tawny reached down to the hedgehog's neck and bit his neck, while injecting the poison of the Cramoisi through his blood stream. After she finished the Midnight black hedgehog started to shake in agony. Daniel comes over to pick him up. .

"Alright…that should do it. Let's head on back' Sonic said

"Right!" Rachel and Daniel said.

"Where are we going?" Tawny asked

"To your new home" Sonic starts to fly up in the sky. Tawny was nervous at first, but then she starts to fly up too. The five of them fly off in the night time sky heading back to the castle.

_**The wild dark beast**_

Meanwhile Scorch and Mist were looking around the city of Central City. Scorch and Mist were a couple of hedgehogs who were members of the Cramoisi family. Scorch was a red orange hedgehog with tan ripped up pants and white and red shoes. Mist was a sky blue hedgehog with a blue jacket and dark blue pants.

W-What a-are w-w-we looking f-f-for a-a-again?" asked Mist

"I felt a strange energy coming from this city. I think it's coming from this way. Said Scorch

"Hey..I see something!" Mist points to a large purple circle in the middle of the street Scorch and Mist were shocked to see these little creatures come out of the circle. They were purple, black demon like creatures with sharp claws they all ran to scorch and mist. Scorch uses his fire balls to wipe some of them out. Then one came jumping at Mist. Mist grabs it and smells something sweet as honey. It was coming from the monster. Mist mouth starts to water, and then she bites the monster as it screams in agony. She then drinks from the monster until there was nothing left.

"Oh…M-my gosh. That was so good" she said

Scorch finishes off the last one then looks at Mist who was covered in black blood.

"Bit of a messy eater, are we?" he Asked

"Scorch! That monster I ate it was so delicious! It was even better than anyone the darkness in their heart! Said Mist.

"Scorch smells the blood that was on mist's dress. He reached his finger to her jacket, got some of the blood and put the finger in his mouth"

"Oh my god….that is good it's like a black heart coated in sugar" he said.

Mist then hears something coming from a distant building .Then Scorch closed his eyes and focused on what was going on.

"I sense two Cramoisi in the area, and something else. Another Cramoisi? I can't….. Tell is kind of hard." he said.

"There are d-dark hearts n-near where you're talking about. Why d-d-on't we g-g-go see what's going on?" asked Mist.

"Alright let's go'

They both flew in that direction toward the dark heart. Not too far from where they were, there were two Cramoisi in the walking around the street. They were both human with wings and long pointy ears. One of them was a long red haired human with a blue shirt and black jeans. She was holding a Black and red bomb like robot with arms and legs but no face. Also there was a boy who had brown hair and glasses and a scar on his face; he had on a green shirt with blue jeans.

"Do you think it was a good idea for us to at this alone? You and I are still kind of new at this Jay-Jay" said the girl.

"Mother told me that if we ever need help, just to do the "Bloody Howl" said Jayden

"What's that?"

"It's a scream only Cramoisi can do. The Scream is so loud it can reach a 200 mile radius to any fellow Cramoisi. And in less than a minute there can be up to 5 Cramoisi brothers and Sisters just there to help out a fellow member"

"Wow!" That's incredible!"

"But I don't think we might need it"

"Why'?"

Jayden closes his eyes. "I can sense two Cramoisi coming our way. In fact, I think I can sense a third one….but it's kind of foggy. I can't tell. Can you tell Saphron?"

"No I can see it but I can't tell" said Saphron

Then the four of them show up on top of a roof. When they look down they see a group of thugs gathering up on a young couple (looked around 17) the boy was a green husky. He had on and red shirt and short tan pants. The girl was a pink fox had on a blue dress, and had pink hair. Then they saw a seventh figure, a character in a green hoodie with claws coming out of his sleeves.

"Scorch, Mist do you know that person?" asked Jayden

"No" they said in unison.

"I can sense a great evil" Saphron said quietly.

"You're a real traitor! Your giving us up for that bitch" said the leader. "We were finally going to become as great as one of the Exen Criminal Lords. How could you betray us?"

"I don't want this anymore! You said that the two of us could leave! " said the green husky

"Not in this life you ain't!" the leader said breaking out his gun.

The two of them embraced each other.

"Grrrr….. let them go John" said the Green hooded man.

Shut up! "D" man you where our best too. Don't make me kill you too. These fools need pay for turning on us!"

The leader fires his gun at the husky.

DENNIS!" screamed the girl.

(Heh, heh) now to have some fun with his girlfriend.

"NO!" said the man in green.

The four Cramoisi looked in horror at what they saw. Jayden had a vision of when his parents were killed by the cobalt shroud, six months ago.

"No…not again…" he knelt down and started to weep Saphron knelt down and tried to comfort him.

"Scorch! We have to help that girl!" said Mist

"Wait a minute something is happening" said Scorch

Everyone looks at the green figure and see that he starts to glow an ominous black aura.

"You…fools you never we're friends to begin with. Said the man as his voce started to get more gruff "Now you going to pay for killing my real ones, so shamelessly!" "Grrrrrrrrr!"

He starts to growl and his coat was getting bigger and bigger until it burst revealing a black furry werehog, He had on black pants and he had a scar on his face that looked like an crooked 'X". He looks at the leader with his dark green menacing eyes. The thugs were now quaking in fear.

"N-Now easy man. We're cool right? Right?" asked John the leader. .

"The only thing "Cool" will be you bodies when I'm through with you!"

The werehog looks at the teen girl quaking in fear.

"Get out of here and never come back.." he said.

"But-But" said the girl quivering in fear, with tears in her eyes.

"Now!" he said in a booming voice.

The girl starts to run past the four who were watching them. Jayden saw the girl and went after her.

"Jay-Jay wait!" said Saphron going after him.

Scorch and Mist stayed behind, and watch the werehog staring down at the thugs as they cowered in fear. He jumps at John and swings his large claw at his throat. He then grabs two thugs using his long arms and squeezes them like lemons until their bones and neck cracked. He then impales one of them with his sharp claws, with his blood gushing out like a fountain. Scorch and Mist look in awe as he finishs the last one by shoving his body through the wall. He stood their panting in anger as he saw the dead bodies of the thugs.

"Now we're cool" he said while getting one of the bodies and drinking it

Scorch and Mist fly down to him then. He sees them, drops the body as it turns to ash and got ready to fight.

"Wait! We don't want to hurt you" said Scorch "The name's Scorch and this is Mist. What's your name brother?"

"Dwayne, and I don't have a Brother. Now beat it!"

"Well this one coming along to us nicely" said Scorch sarcastically

Meanwhile Carla, who was running away from the scene, was running as fast as she can but then she tripped and continued to cry.

"Oh Dennis…Why….why!" She screamed to the heavens.

Jayden was able to catch up with her and shows up in front of her. She see Jayden's red violet stare. Carla begins to cower in fear and crawl back away but Saphron was right behind her. Carla looked at her Red violet gaze, which made her gasp in fear. She scooted close to the nearby building wall.

P-Please…don't hurt me….I do anything you want…" said Carla.

Jayden looked nervous. "Uhh don't worry we are here to help you!" said Jayden trying to sound like a super hero.

Saphron had a little sweat drop _"How I ever got in to this nerd I'll never know" _she thought

.

Uhm, Hi I'm Saphron and this is Jayden we only want to help you"

"Dennis….He's gone (sob, sob)

Saphron looks at Jayden and gave him a certain look."Jay-Jay, are you ready?"

"For what?"

"Mother said to bring any forlorn heart to our side. This will be your first won't it?"

"You mean I get to….but how do I do it?"

"It's just like Daniel said; let your instincts guide you. Find her deepest desire and just believe."

Jayden took a deep breath, and knelt down to the fox."Carla, look into my eyes. Don't be afraid."

Carla looks into Jayden's stare and could not look away. "What do you want?"

"I….want…to be with…Dennis…. I…want…us ….to….live…happy …..together…..but it's never meant…to be…he's….gone" said Carla dazed

"No" said Jayden. "He is alive, mother is calling you both, she wants you home Big Sister"

Carla was mesmerized while listening to Jayden. His words were clear and calming. Carla slowly nods while looking at him. "Ok…I will come"

"Are you Ready Jay-Jay" asked Saphron.

Jayden came to Carla who was still dazed. He brings himself to her neck and bites it, then injects the venom through her blood stream. Carla becomes unconscious, and starts to shake in pain as her body went through the changes.

"Good work Jay-Jay!" said Saphron. "Sonic, and Mother would be proud!"

"Yeah…I guess they would!" he said smiling with a pose.

"Seriously, stop doing that" Saphron said taking Carla and walking back to the others.

"Sigh…Oh well at least I have a girl who looks after me"

Back with Scorch and Mist, Scorch walks up to the man who was shot. He touches his head. Scorch closed his eyes to focus and see what was going on in his head. Dwayne was looking at Scorch with curiosity; Mist was carrying Bomb after Saphron left him with her. The two of them looked at Scorch as he tried to read his mind.

"What is he doing?" asked Dwayne

"He's looking in to his mind for his d-deepest desires, and s-s-seeing if he is-s-s worthy." said Mist

Mist takes another look at the werehog. She saw that he had no claw marks on his arms, his eyes were not Red-violet like hers and Scorch's were, but he did have wings on his back though.

"Ok… let's see if ….I can do this…" said Scorch. "his life force is weak but I think I can still…."

"Hey D-d-dwayne have met M-Mother y-yet?" asked Mist.

"Mother? Whose… mother?"

"you know….our mother… Madame Darcy ?"

Dwayne quirks his eyebrow. "I don't know what you're talking about. I only had one mother and father they are both gone." Dwayne looks at Mist shiver "Hey, aren't you cold?"

"D-d-don't worry, I-I-'m a-a-always c-c-cold. B-but t-that's w-w-why I have s-scorch. Being w-w-with h-h-him m-m-makes me f-f-eel w-warm."

"Sounds like he's your blanket to me"

"He's more than t-that. Mother was the one who brought us back together. She reminded us how much we loved each other. A-a-after that s-s-scorch and I have a-a-always been t-t-together."

Scorch gets up and looks at the two. "Yup, this guy has been through a lot of struggle. At first he was a pretty bad dude, but then he met Carla. That changed his life he gave up on his life on crime. Good thing too, if he hadn't we would have probably killed him to. But anyway it looks like he wanted to pay back for what he has done."

"He wanted to leave our gang" said Dwayne

"Huh?"

"John wasn't too happy about this, so he wanted to teach them a lesson."

"How do you know this?"

"I was a member of this gang." Scorch and Mist gasp. "What of it, anyway?

"B-but…you're…one of us…aren't you?" Mist asked

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Scorch looks at Mist and then back Dwayne. "Right…..anyway…could you tell us more about him?

Dwayne looks the other way while having his eyes closed.,"We did a few things here and there to help out those who needed it I would kill off all the criminals, but John became obsessed with it. He and his friends became too greedy and they abuse their power and mine to become the best of the best.

"Best of what?" asked Scorch

"You mean…. you don't know?"

"No"

"Well you'll learn soon enough. Anyway, I got tired of it so I "asked" him to stop but he was too stubborn. After I said that Dennis took it in to consideration this was a little after the he found a girlfriend, so he had plans of leaving the gang too.

"Well yeah but…Oh Scorch what about this guy? Can he join us?" asked Mist

"Join you?" asked Dwayne

"It's a long shot, when I looked in his heart, this guy still has some gray in his heart, but at the same time he actually, seems to right the wrongs he did, it's worth a shot."

"What are you two talking about?"

Scorch kneels down and bites Dennis' shoulder Dwayne gives a curious look to know what was going on. After scorch finishes he looks at the body and saw that nothing happened. "Oh no…. could his heart be to black for him to transform?"

"N-No" said Mist.

"What?"

"I-if his heart w-was t-t-to black h-he would t-tturn to a-ash. He s-s-still f-f-fine l-l-l-iook!"

Scorch and Dwayne look at the Dennis who was now shaking in pain, as his body began to transform. Scorch sighed in relief. "Well…I guess the blacker the heart the longer it takes" Scorch picks Dennis up.

"So Dwayne, mother would love to meet you. Do you want to come with us?"

Dwayne scoffs at the question "_These people can't be serious, but maybe they can help bring down the entire mafia If they truly are people who kill criminals." _Dwayne turns and walks out of the alley.

"Wait don't you want to meet Mother?" asked Scorch.

"I already told you my mother's dead, but" Dwayne turns back to the two. "If you want more black heart's you should come to Spagonia .

"What?" Scroch exclaimed

"That is one of the main locations of the criminal underground" Dwayne flew away after that

"Dwayne wait!" said Mist.

"Criminal underground?" said Scorch. "What do you think he meant about that?'

"I don't know w-well a-ny-w-w-ay we got to get home it's almost sunrise"

Mist, Scorch, Jayden, and Saphron carried the couple back to the castle area.

"Wait!" said Jayden."We need to get the blood of the thugs so we don't make a scene."

"Your right will get some j-jugs and g-g-et the blood. You guys g-g-go back to the castle" said Mist.

As Dwayne was flying in the sky he looks down. "What are they going to do with Dennis? Mmmm…I guess I'm going have find some more help to take him down. I will avenge you Dennis!"

About an hour later they four of them returned to the castle in the throne room where they saw Sonic and his group in there. Saphron and Scorch put Dennis and Carla down in front of Darcy and Zerach's throne.

Daniel was holding the black hedgehog.

Tawny walks up to the throne and kneels down on one leg. "My queen…it is an honor to serve you, and fight with against all evil'

Darcy smiles and gets up from her throne."You may take the young hedgehog to his room, Daniel"

"Yes mother" Daniel bows his head and walks to the halls.

Darcy turns to Tawny who was looking at her. Tawny lets out a gasp and bows her head. Darcy could not help but giggle. "You may raise, child." Tawny gets up. Darcy starts to walk around Tawny "I am pleased to see a new face in the family.

"Thank you mother" Tawny looks at the other two who were laid out on the throne.

"Now time to wake up, you two" Darcy snaps her fingers. Both Cramoisi wake up instantly. They get up and look around.

Dennis looks at Sonic, Tawny and then Darcy. "Where….where am I?"

"You are home now, son" Zerach said walking up. "How do you feel?"

"I…I feel good" Carla said. "Like..all my inner pain is gone"

"Carla?" Dennis stares at Carla with a surprised expression.

Carla turns around and takes a few steps back."D-D-Dennis? You're…Alive…" Carla eyes start to well up. "Dennis!" She runs up and embraces him deeply. Dennis does the same. They hold onto each other as if they haven't done it in years. "I thought….I thought I lost you forever"

"I'm happy to see you…but I'm still kind of confused….I thought I was dead."

"You my child have been reborn in the radiant dark" Darcy told them "And the one that stands in the way of your true love have been dealt with. You are now members of the Crimson claw.

"Crimson Claw?" Tawny asked. She then looks at the arm and sees the claw mark. "Why are my clothes so bloody?"

Saphron looks at Tawny's clothes and smiles. "Oh, I know how to fix that. Scorch, Rachel?"

"Right!" All three of them hold out there hands. From their hands came out dark clouds, from the dark clouds, came three sets of new clothes. Carla, Dennis, and Tawny stare at the clothes in awe.

"Here" Saphron hands Tawny new clothes. Rachel and Scorch hand the other two their clothes.

" How did you do that?" Tawny asked looking at the clothes. "These are so…perfect!"

"Yup! You'll learn how to do that soon. It's pretty awesome." Said Jayden

"These are just my size" Carla said looking at them.

"Come on Tawny" Saphron said walking up to her "You can try them out in my room.

"Oh Ok…uhhh…"

"My name's Saphron, by the way. And this here is Jayden."

"Hi" Jayden said happily.

"Why don't you children go and look around the castle" Darcy instructed

"Alright!" everyone said walking out.

Sonic walks back to Amy who was outside the throne room. Amy comes up to Sonic and hugs him.

"So did you enjoy your excursion?"

"Yeah…it was cool. Looks like our family is getting bigger."

"Sonic" Sonic turns around and sees Darcy.

"Oh. What is it?

"I don't mean to interrupt but I have a favor to ask you."

What could the favor be? Hope you guys liked this!


	2. The Heart of the Cramosi

Well here we are Chapter dos

Ohhhhhhhhh there is so much happening in this chape' It is going to Blow….your…MIND!

_**All Sega characters are not mine and there are also some other characters that also aren't mine but they aren't Sega's either they belong to my buds. DON"T STEAL THEM!**_

Do your best to follow along and have fun Ok? You will find seats to your left and right of the stage beverages will be served shortly.

_**Off Panel**_:

_**Rumble in the jungle Part 2**_

_**Pop goes the weasel**_

Richter was sitting in a canoe with Quinn. Quinn was getting the last of the prickly pear thistles out of his hair. Moving the canoe was a pink weasel with a pink tank top.

"So.." she said in a soothing voice. "Where you of too, hot stuff?"

"Running away..form people who tried to hurt me."

"Oh that's terrible! Who would hurt such a sweetie like you?"

"Pink monkeys'

The weasel grips her ore tight and grits her teeth, and right eye twiches. "Monkeys…did you say monkeys?"

"Yeah..what of it?"

"Why..they've been the thorn on my side for the longest! I was trying to run a peaceful business in selling necklaces." The weasel was moving her ore faster. 'And THEN, they chance away my customers..with their explosive fruit!

"Uhhh..ma'am…aren't you going a little….." The boat goes to the left of a fork in the river.

"Then! I tried hair styling! And then they put itching power in my products! THEY ARE EVIL I TELL YOU!"

"Lady! Slow down!" Richter was holding on to the boat as it was going faster and faster"

"Then I tried fruit pie! But…but then unknown to me…they put bugs in them! BUGS! WHHAAAAA!" She moves the ore faster and faster. "Oh! And then they chase me all around that stinking bush! And if that wasn't bad enough, They blew up my business shack and made me work as a stupid ferry boat driver!"

"Uhhh..as sad as this sounds…I think….AHHHH!" Richter sees a waterfall up ahead with no sigh of her turning back.

"And what worse is that I'm _allergic_ to most fruit..and itching powders!"

Richter and Quinn were holding each other screaming while the weasel was laughing hysterically. The boat falls down the waterfall. The boat hops on a tree branch back in the rapids. The boat was rocking left and right.

"All around the mulberry bush, the monkeys chassed me! The monkeys thought it was all just for fun and games! Fun and games my ass! THEY RUINED MY LIFE! "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (screaming)

Richter and Quinn were still screaming and hugging each other…"is every animal in this jungle psychopaths?

"Chola cha chao!"

"Pop goes the weasel!" the girl screamed _"POP_ goes the _weasel_!"

The river calmed down. The weasel was panting crazily. Richter was panting out of control. They finally arrived to their destination. "Thank you for traveling the peaceful river"

"Uh..huh" Richter said nervously walking off and on to land.

"See ya around…hot stuff" the weasel blew a kiss. "Hope you don't run into those….*eye twitches* monkeys" She rows away in her boat leaving Richter and Quinn alone.

"Chao..chao chao choa chi cho!" Quinn said

"ohhh…all I wanted was to get back to my ship"

"Hey Richter" Richter turns around and sees Chrome. "You look troubled..where have ya been?"

"You will not believe it! No more lone trips in the jungle for me!"

Now on with the story!

_**The ultimate secret**_

On the distant is land at GUN headquarters there was a person standing in front of a window in the top floor in a big room. He was a white shrew with black cobalt eyes and a blue cape with two swords. He was waiting for one of his agents to come by and tell him some news. As e was standing there one of his agents came into the room he bowed in respect for his leader.

"Has everything been set?" asked the shrew.

"Yes master Klaus. The incantations in the main areas have been set. All we need is to wait during the next sundown. Said the agent.

"Sir.." A blue agent comes up to Klaus with a large box. Klaus walks up to the agent and opens the box. He sees twelve seed like stones and grabs a few. He then makes a symbols on the ground and sets the stones on the floor. He then draws blood from his hand and lets it drop on the floor. All the stones start o glow and change into three figures. One of them looked like a small man with a yellow and green cloak, another one was a large bulky man with a brown cape and blue cloak and the last one was a tall man with red sashes with a blue cloak.

"Greetings my shoulders" Klaus introduced. "You are three of my strongest blue agents: the Navy Marcoat. I want you find members of the Grand Mafia." A blue agent gives the figures papers and pictures. "Here is everything you need to know. Hunt them down…and any Cramoisi you see, show no mercy."

"Yes master Klaus!" said the men in cloaks. One of the agents directs them out of the room. Klaus looks back at the first agents.

"How is our new operative?" Klaus asked him.

"Your new what?"

A figure with long hair and ruby red eyes came into the room. She looked at Klaus with a deadly gaze."Lets get something straight here, I'm not your pet I look after myself Alright!" said the figure

"Oh of course not my dear. However I'm the one who gives you the information you want in order to get what you want. Now then you do remember what you must do? You must find the one who killed your friend, and kill him." said Klaus

"And I am the one who might know were to find him. Agent! Have got that information?"

"Yes Master, we have news that there has been Cramoisi activity in Empire City." said the agent.

"Good now my dear here are the directions to the city" said Klaus while an agent handed a electric map to the city."

"Are you ready to get the revenge you ever so crave?"

"Without question….I will make him pay."

The figure warped out of their in a flash.

"Sir…why didn't you just make her an agent?"

"Because, she has the same will power as her brother. So I had to use another way to persuade her. She is as strong as he ultimate life form herself, our only chance against my brother, and that witch." said Klaus

_**Chapter 2**_

_**The heart of Cramoisi  
><strong>_

_**The Light**_

Sonic Darcy and Amy were walking around in the castle courtyard. Sonic looks at Amy while she looks ahead. He then looks at Darcy who turns to look at him. As they exchanges looks Sonic felt a bit timid, he then musters his courage to break the silence. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Darcy closes her eyes and smiles. "Ah yes….I'm sorry, got wrapped up in the scenery. Darcy giggled "Anyway, I just wanted to discuss to you about you and your friends efforts for the past months. You have been a much big help to me and my husband. And for that I thank you..so much."

"it's no problem!" Sonic said giving her a thumbs up.

"However….I do feel as if I've been a burden to you all." Darcy said with a changed tone. "To drastically change your life as I did..how have you been taking it in?"

Sonic looks away and looks down for a moment. "Well….i can't say that I am too happy about this. I do miss the days were I'd run around different parts of the world and enjoy the sun in my face, and stopping killer robots form taking over the world. But now that Eggman is dead and I can't go out in the sun…things have been kind of..boring."

"I..see. Darcy said looking the other way. Amy was facing Sonic, when she heard him talk. She then looks the other way and closes her eyes. "It's my fault. I drastically changed your lives because of my selfish reasons…for that I apologize.

"But.." Sonic said both girls lifted their heads and looked at him. "Don't take it the wrong way…I know my life is changed for good maybe..I may never feel the sun, or stop Eggman….but.." Sonic looks at Amy who was blushing. "You still taught me how much Amy is important to me…and I shouldn't be afraid to show my feelings towards her. Still…things are so calm and quiet though."

Darcy nods her head and looks ahead. Sonic and Amy stop walking as Darcy was walking ahead. Darcy turns to the two and opens her eyes. She then lifts her hand that starts to glow a black aura. "When I was but a younger queen….the elders told me stories of the heart of Cramoisi" She began.

"Heart of….' Sonic said

"Cramoisi?" Amy finished

"Correct. The heart was made up of two parts…the darkness…and the light."

"You mean like the fangs of Dark Radiance?" Sonic asked.

"The fangs of dark radiance: the weapon used to fight the purest of evil in the world." The three turned and saw Zerach walk up to them. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I overheard you talk."

Darcy giggles. "It's no trouble at all, my love. Why don't we tell it together?"

"Alright. Anyway, the Fangs of dark radiance refers to Darcy and myself, where as the heart of Cramoisi…is different. For generations, the fangs have been protecting the heart of Cramoisi.

"But the heart itself is sometimes said to be the radiant dark itself. It's the very source of our power. Not dark..not light…but in between. That's radiant Darkness." Darcy shows her ring to the two hedgehogs. "What you see here…is the very sample of The Dark: the part that gives us power to fight and the drive to hunt down evil.

"So..what about the light?" Sonic asked

"The Light….the light is the symbol of judgment of our cause, and the order to our abilities. It is the very source that controls the dark, where as the dark is what grants light power. Zerach continued. "in short, Darkness needs light, and light needs Darkness. That is our general law.

"Right now…the light is missing. And it has been missing for a very long time now. Already…I can see the results of the Dark taking over." Darcy told

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked

"As the dark continues to rule over us, our hearts are slowly becoming evil"

Sonic and Amy gasp. "W-what do you mean evil?" Amy asked

"Without light….darkness will spread in our hearts and turn every Cramoisi into what we fear the most; the very thing we were meant to destroy. Zerach explained.

"So what will happen first?" Sonic asked

"Right now…we are experiencing the first to happen; our power slowly increasing. Then…we will crave more and more blood, from natural born sinners, to even the innocent of lives even infants."

"Tell me it stops there" Sonic said sarcastically

"It worse" Darcy said

"Of course it does."

"If something isn't done soon….."Zerach closes his eyes and clenches his fist. "The Cramoisi will have great pleasure of destroying this world..and everything on it"

Sonic felt his heart drop, and he knelt down to the ground. "No…"

"That can't be!" Amy said "What are we going to do? All I wanted was to be with Sonic and now there's a chance we will become evil?"

"Please calm down, Amy…" Darcy instructed.

"We have more to tell you, children." Zerach said. Sonic and Amy look up. "Fortunately….it doesn't even look like we are at stage one yet, but so far our bloodlust has been very strong, which means that the effects are not happening yet."

'"Well that's good…" Amy said sighing

"However…the longer we wait, the chances of us giving in might not take as long as anticipated. Sonic…come here" Sonic gets up and walks over to Zerach, he gets on one knee while looking at Zerach. Darcy walks over and grabs Sonic's hand. Sonic feels something cold on his hand. He sees a white stone in his hand. It was a four shaped diamond shaped stone with four small spikes on each side. "As a knight of the cramoisi…you are instructed to protect your siblings from falling to the dark. You will also continue to look for the light and bring it back to the heart of the Cramoisi. Do you..Sonic the hedgehog…take this task and find the light?"

Sonic looks at the stone and back a Zerach. He slowly nods and smiles. "No worries"

Zerach smiles and closes his eyes. "Ah..excellent. Once we find it…the heart of Cramoisi shall be in balance yet again. Now Sonic the hedgehog…Azure knight…Rise!"

When Sonic got up his body starts to shine a bright light. There was a blinding light Amy covered her eyes. When the flash was gone she opens them. She sees Sonic in black armor. He wore black shin guards two black gantlets and wore a metal headband with a blue stone in the middle. His wings also had metallic armor on the tips. Sonic looks at himself, and smiles. He feels around his new gantlets and his legs. "Way past cool!"

"Indeed…those were worn by one the very first knights of the Cramoisi who fought for the very first Cramoisi king, and now..they are yours….Sir Sonic.

"Heh! Haven't been called that in awhile

"You have been called Sir before?" Darcy asked

"When he was in fairy tale land" Amy teased

"It was real! I told you!"

'oh you must take me there!" Darcy said happily.

"Now...we must go into the castle. We have a new member to greet" Zerach walks in the castle. Darcy looks back at Sonic.

"So do you think you can take me their?"

"Uh…it was quite some time ago so..I'm not sure…" Sonic said nervously

"Oh..what a shame..anyway come…lets meet your new brother."

Sonic nods and he and Amy walk in the room. As Sonic was walking the armor disappears back into is gauntlet.

_**Tale of two Hedgehogs**_

Back in the castle, the black hedgehog was sleeping in his room His skin was paler, and he had a glowing claw mark on his arm. He slowly stirred in his sleep until he finally woke up revealing his Red-violet eyes. He looks around in the dark dank room. "W-Where am I….ow…what hit me?" He feels his head and slowly gets up. "What is this place?" As he asked himself these questions he walks out of the room, into the hallway.

As he walks around he sees the castle and saw all the other rooms. It was dark, dank and looks like it was not used in centuries, but for some reason he felt right at home. He then sees a stair case and walks down. After going down the steps, he saw a giant door. He opens the door where he was in this giant throne room. Sonic and the others come into the room from the front of the thrones. Darcy walks over and sits on her throne and Zerach walks over to his. Sonic sees the black hedgehog long with a few others as well. The hedgehog looks in awe at the room's stain glass windows and ancient architecture. Then he sees other people already in the room. They all look at him with their red-violet eyes, and gave him a small smile. The hedgehog at first was a little spooked out but then he looks at them as if he recognized them. One of them was an ivory hedgehog with a lavender cat. He walks deeper in to the room. He then saw a yellow fox with a person that looked like a human girl but she was green, and had two violet flowers growing out of her head, another couple was a crimson black hedgehog with a white bat. The last couple was sitting on two thrones, One was a purple bat with big black and red wings coming out of her back, and the other one was a golden shrew with Gold and white wings coming out of his back. The purple bat smiles as he saw the hedgehog and got up to greet them.

"Child welcome! How are you feeling?" asked Darcy

"Uhhh I'm fine. Can you tell me what's going on?" asked the hedgehog

"You are in Kingdom Valley" said the blue hedgehog.

"Welcome Brother!" said The Pink one.

"Brother?' the hedgehog asked looking at Sonic. "hey…aren't you…?"

"Yup, I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog! World's fastest thing alive… well I'm not alive but I'm still the fastest!

"Oh Brother…Well anyway I'm Amy It's nice to meet you.

"Say hello everyone!"

"Hi! I'm Tails!" said the yellow fox.

"Hello I'm Cosmo nice to meet you" the seederan bowed.

"Hey! My name's Silver" said the ivory hedgehog.

"Welcome brother I'm Blaze" said the cat

"Hey there honey! I'm Rouge" said the white bat.

"Humph! Shadow" said the crimson black hedgehog.

"Hello everyone…" he said a little nervous

"Who are you?" asked Sonic

"Oh! My name is Zoomer. "May I ask who you are?"

"I am Darcy, but you may call me "Mother", and this is my husband Zerach.

"Delighted to meet you, son" said Zerach shaking Zoomer's hand.

"Thank you father" said Zoomer. "I don't know how or why but I feel like I already know you…"

Darcy smiled while saying, "Do you know what is going on my child?"

"Can you tell me?"

"You are now a part of the Cramoisi"

"Cramoisi?" asked Zoomer

"You are a servant to the Radiant Dark you have the looks to prove it. If you look at your brothers and sisters you will see that they share the same traits you have. Zoomer, do not be afraid, Here have a look at yourself"

Darcy suddenly materializes a mirror from a dark cloud. Zoomer was shocked at what he was looking at. He saw himself. His eyes where no longer orange, but now red-violet, his skin was paler than normal, and his fingernails were white sharper, and longer. He then saw the mark of a Purple claw on his upper right arm, but the thing that shocked him the most where the two wings on his back.

"What-What happened to me?" He touched his chest out of shock then he felt something was missing. He could not feel his heartbeat. It was gone. "Am…I…Dead, am I in he-"

"In order yes and no" said Sonic

"You're dead, but you did not leave earth you are just kind of in the middle" said Amy

"So I'm a Zombie cool!" said Zoomer

"No, Vampire" said Shadow

"Whoa, even cooler! So does this mean I have to find someone to drink from?"

"Whoa! You sure don't waste time do you hon?" asked Rouge.

"Zoomer, aren't you a little freaked out about this?" asked Tails

"At first I was but now it sounds pretty cool now I get to live forever maybe find a lady friend"

"Well..he's adapting well." Said the little seedran Cosmo

"Well now that that's settled, since the moon is out, Sonic why don't you take Zoomer on his first hunt?" asked Darcy.

"Alright Mother. Coming Rose bud?" asked sonic looking at Amy.

"Nah, you have fun, Blue Bonnet" (Texas flower) said Amy winking at Sonic.

"The two of us would like to come" said Tails.

"Yes, I'm a little hungry" said Cosmo.

"Silver why don't you go with them. You could use exercise" said Blaze.

"What's that suppose to mean?" said Silver

"Oh quit winning and just go! Our brother may need some support. " said Blaze

"OK OK"

They both went out the room and opened the door leading to the outside then the five of them took off in to the sky

"Hey you got the hang of this pretty well" said Tails.

"Well I'm very aerodynamic so it's pretty easy for me to get up in the air" said Zoomer.

"So where are we going big brother?" asked Cosmo

"Empire City, we should be there soon" said Sonic

In, thirty minutes they arrived at the city. The lights were shining bright all the cars were honking. The gang was near the fountain of the park where sonic was giving direction

"OK Tails you and Cosmo take one side of the city while silver Zoomer and I take the other, Got it?" asked Sonic.

"OK you Ready, Lily flower asked Tails.

"Of course my fire hot fox." said Cosmo.

"Zoomer you ready?" asked Silver

"No worries let's go!" said Zoomer

"Ok you and I Zoomer come on!"

They both ran into the city.

_Skyscraper Scamper (Night) - Sonic and Zoomer: Hunt for the dark heart_

_Sonic and Zoomer keel down and get ready to run and then take off_

They were running on top of a skyscraper looking down on all the people looking for a dark heart.

"Zoomer can you smell that?" Asked Sonic

"Yeah it smells good and it's everywhere."

"It's like darkness all around"

"Yup…let's do what we do best!'

"Alright bro!"

They continued going from skyscraper to skyscraper, jumping and running. They then came across some GUN robots. Sonic used his homing attack on the ground droids, while Zoomer jumped and kicked the flying robots on the ground with incredible speed.

"Hey! Not bad!" said Sonic

"All too easy!" said Zoomer smiling.

They both approached a rail and jumped on it to grind. After they jumped off, they continue to run across the buildings, destroying every robot in their path.

"Hey I can smell a dark heart, its close" said Sonic

"Yeah Me to" said Zoomer

"Here we are" said Sonic

The Two of them arrived the top of a building then they felt rumbling coming from the ground.

"Well that's new" said Sonic "Tell me that was your stomach"

"I'd be lying if I did" said Zoomer

Then a large black circle appears in front of them. Two arms come out of the circle, and then a dark figure crawls out the circle it was giant one eyed monster with horns and a big mallet, glowing an ominous purple, blue and black color

"No! It can't be!" said Sonic

"Sonic what is that?" asked Zoomer

"We have to take it out Zoomer are you ready?"

"Yeah!"

The monster swung it's mallet at Sonic and Zoomer while they dogged it. The two of them were flying looking at the monster trying to find a way to beat it. Sonic then smelled a pleasing aroma coming from the monster.

"That….smell…it smells so good." said Zoomer.

"It smells like free chili dog day!" said Sonic.

"Let's get 'em! My stomach is growing like mad!"

Sonic and Zoomer charged at the monsters neck and chomped it like a crisp apple, and started drinking from it.

"_So….Good" _said Sonic

"_I can't stop" _thought Zoomer

They we're getting full so they stopped but the monster was still standing so they attacked the monster with their claws until it finally went down and disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke.

"Man that was good but what was that?" asked Zoomer

Sonic gets up and looks at the sky deep in thought. "There's no way they could be back. The planets still in one piece" said Sonic

Meanwhile Silver was roaming through the rooftop trying to get a black heart himself. He was sniffing around looking for a bite. He was doing his best to make sure that no one would see himLittle that he knew someone was following him. It was a figure with ruby eyes and its crimson hair shined in the lights of the city

"Nothing…Man I'm soooo hungry!" said Silver. "There's got to be a dark heart somewhere- Gah!"There was a beam of energy coming from the person who was behind silver. He turned to see who it was he saw a Crimson black hedgehog. "S-Shadow….. Is that you?" .

"So you _do _know Shadow" said the figure

The figure walked in to the light she was a Crimson Black hedgehog with ruby eyes. She wore a black tank top with black Capri pants and hover shoes just like shadow. The hedgehog's crimson- black hair when down to her waist and her bangs were covering her left eye.

"Klaus was right!" said the Hedgehog."You're in league with shadow aren't you?"

"Klaus?" said Silver. "I've got to tell Sonic!"

Silver started to run at his incredible speed but the hedgehog caught up to him and kicks him to a nearby building.

"Your fast…but you're not a Cramoisi…How did you…." said Silver a little dazed

"Cramoisi? I could never be a cold killer like you and my brother!" said the hedgehog.

"Brother?"

The hedgehog made a ball of energy out of her hand she pointed her hand at Silver. But then out of nowhere two Cramoisi swooped in and stood behind Silver it was Tails and Cosmo.

"Tails…..Cosmo?" said Silver

"Are you Ok Silver?" asked Cosmo.

"You leave our brother alone!" said Tails.

The hedgehog looked at the three protecting Silver. Then she gave them a dark glare.

"This is family business this doesn't concern you"

As he was staring back, Tails' hands were ignited with a yellow flame. "Don't come any closer!"

"Humph! My, aren't you the little fighter…. Tell you what, I let you live Cramoisi. I have a message for Shadow"

"Who are you and how do you know Shadow?" asked Sliver.

"My name is Fear. Tell Shadow his sister's looking for him. Farwell" Silver and the others covered their eyes as Fear used Chaos Control to escape

"Fear…..Sister! Oh man!" said Silver. Tails diminished his flames.

Sonic and Zoomer showed up in front of the three who looked bewildered at what they saw.

"Are you Ok little Brother" asked Sonic helping silver up.

"Yeah I'm fine" said Silver

"Who was that?" asked Zoomer

"I….I think it was Shadow's….sister' said Tails.

"WHAT?" Sonic nearly tripped as he heard his two tailed bud.

"I think so" Sliver said. "Black hair, red highlights, chaos moves, bad temper…."

"Yup!" Sonic chuckled "That's him alright! Boy is he going to go nuts!"

"Aren't you worried?" Zoomer asked. Sonic just kept laughing "Is he always like this?"

"Yeah..but he means well" Tails said

Sonic stops laughing after he hears something. Everyone else starts to hear the something. Out of nowhere three people swoop in front of everyone. They wore hooded blue and Green cloaks and carried two katana swords. Then came a bunch blue coated robots and sentry droids.

"Oh no…" said Tails

"The Cobalt Shroud" said Sonic

"The Cobalt Shroud? Who are they?" asked Zoomer.

"Not friendly" said Silver.

"Stay where you are Cramoisi scum" said one of the agents.

One of then pulled out a stone that radiated a glow. That started to weaken everyone of the Cramoisi. Zoomer started to feel weak and went down to the ground.

"Nth metal…!" said Sonic looking up at the man, trying to stay up.

"It…hurts…" Zoomer said on the ground.

"Yes Cramoisi! Nth metal! The one weakness to you other than sunlight!" said the agent

"I…. can't….. move…." said Tails "It's….too…much!"

The agent waked closer to the Cramoisi, which made them hurt even more. "heh heh heh..Slice them up till there's nothing left"

As they draw their swords ready to kill a green glow surrounds the rock. The rock floats out of the agent's hand, and floats away into a nearby manhole, The Cramoisi open their eyes and saw the stone float away.

"Silver…was that you?' asked Sonic

"No"

"Hey who turned down the A/C?" said Tails

It started to get cold as a blue circle came out in front of them. Then a blue intangible figure rose from the chilling circle. The figure became tangible after rising from the circle he became tangible. It was a white echidna wearing white pants and a white unzipped coat, with a cape on his waist and a sword in his belt. He also had blue stones around his neck that were glowing. The Echidna had a tattoo of a glowing blue crescent moon on his left arm and his left eye lid was covered in blue also. He opened his eyes and looked at the agents and robots behind them. Then he looked at Sonic and the others. The echidna had teal blue eyes that were glowing in the light.

"Who are you? Association with Cramoisi is a federal offence to the law of the Council. Said the agent.

"Humph! You say I'm abusing the law? I'm not the one harming innocent children. said the echidna. "I'm going to let you off with a warning: stand down and I'll let you live"

"HA! You're in no position to give orders"

"Am I not?"

Suddenly there came a bolt of lightning hitting each of the robots blowing them up in the process. The three agents look dumbfounded at the destruction of their robotic minions. The bolt of lightning jolts right next to the echidna and reviled a yellow hedgehog with purple stripes on his hair(like shadows crimson streaks but his hair looks similar to Silvers) the hedgehog got up and looked at the agents. He had on a ripped gray and purple scarf, dark tan pants, and yellow sneakers, and amber eyes. Like the echidna he also had the same tattoos on his arm and eye. He looks back at the others but paid his attention to Silver. He lets out a small smirk, while Silver looked confused.

(Heh, heh, heh) he said "It's been a while hasn't it pipsqueak?"

"Zenith, Focus!" said the Echidna

"Oh sorry cap'" said Zenith"

"This is your last chance leave them alone" said the echidna

The Agents drew their swords and charged at the echidna.

"So be it….. You have chosen your fate" said the echidna drawing his sword and disappearing.

They stop and then look for the echidna. Before they knew it one of the agents gets cut by a mysterious force right in the chest. The Agent fell down on the ground bleeding to death. The other agent also gets sliced along with the last agent. They both fall to the ground.

Then the echidna reappeared where he was standing and tuned and looked at the five Cramoisi, while withdrawing his weapon.

"There….. you're save now. Come on, Zenith it's time to go" said the Echidna

"Right captain!" the yellow hedgehog disappeared in a lightning bolt

The echidna got out a disk that he threw on the ground and turned into a yacht type extreme gear (Looks like a water sail). As he has about to take off sonic stops him.

"Wait!"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for saving us but why did you do it, and who are you?"

The echidna smiled and looked at Sonic.

"I'm just like you; an ally of justice. If you want to return the favor, come to Spagonia " He said

"Spagonia?" asked Sonic

"We will be waiting for you, Cramoisi where we both will be satisfied with the spoils of war." With that he took of into the moonlight.

"What do you mean when he said "we"' sonic asked Silver.

"Silver?"

_How did that guy know me and why did he call me "pipsqueak" _Thought Silver

"Hey Silver!"

"Oh! Sorry Sonic! I was just thinking of what that guy called me. So uhh anyway how did Zoomer do?"

"He did pretty good I'd say he would get a Rank "S"" said Sonic Putting his thumbs up.

"That's good right?" said Zoomer

'Yup!"

"Yeah!

"We should get going. It's dangerous here." said Sonic

"Right" said everyone

"Wait!" said Tails

"Shouldn't we at least take this food with us" he said pointing at the dead agents bodies"

"Oh your right little bro. it would be a shame to see all that food go to waste. Silver do you have any jugs left?'" said SonicSilver materialized jugs using his psychic abilities. "Excellent!"

After they got the jugs filled with blood they all took off toward where the stile in the forest was. While they where flying sonic began to think.

"_Could Dark Gaia really be returning?" and if that were true would that also mean that…?"_

Sonic looked at his wrist which had a gray ring with a green gem on it.

"_I can't worry about that now I have to get everyone to safety" _

They continued to fly in the direction of the castle valley.

Somewhere else in the city Fear was standing on top of a building and looking at the five fly away. They did not see her but she could see them.

"That's right run away like the cowards you are. But next time I won't be so generous."

"So your after the flying bat people right?"

"Huh? Who's there?"

Fear looked around but did not see anything untill she saw a figure with blue eyes and spiky hair.

"Those bat people and the people I'm after are linked somehow. We both want the same thing right?"

"Who are you?"

A Blue-White Hedgehog step out of the Shadows he had spiky hair with a strange black mark on his chest.

"You want to do away with the killers right well I have power that can help you with that" said the hedgehog.

Fear narrowed her eyebrows

"I'm listening" she said

The hedgehog gave a big smirk

About an thirty minutes later they five of them returned to the castle in the throne room. While they were in there they explained everything they heard and saw while they were out. Darcy was walking around trying to recap on everything she has heard.

"I see. So you have encountered a black hedgehog that looked like Shadow?" she asked

"Yeah and she had a sour attitude like him to, guess it runs in the blood!" Sonic said laughing. Shadow growled after hearing that. Sonic looked at him with a smirk. "Hey, I'm just going by what Silver said"

"Anyway" Silver said trying to change the subject." We also saw this White echidna with a moon tattoo that killed some council members too. He said some thing about "Being an alley of justice"

"Well now that is interesting" said Darcy

"Was it that guy with that tattoo we saw a while back?" asked Shadow.

"If I remember, that guy had the tattoo of an orange sun. The guy we saw had the tattoo of a blue moon." said Sonic

"Do you think they are related somehow?" asked Amy

"Don't know maybe" said Sonic "He also said some thing about meeting him at Spagonia"

"Spagonia?" asked Darcy

"It's a place about 3 hours from here. But it won't take _us_ that long" said Shadow

"That's were Dwayne told us to go to" said Scorch coming in the room.

"Dwayne? Is he the person you saw that felt like a Cramoisi but wasn't" said Darcy

"Yeah He had w-w-wings p-p-pale skin and fangs, but he didn't have the claw m-m-mark or our e-e-eyes." said Mist.

"He had big arms that stretched out and claws, oh and that's not the strangest part he said that he had a mother but she's dead." said Scorch.

"Imposable" said Darcy I've only been back for six months, and the rest of the Cramoisi have been eliminated after Zerach and I were sealed away."

"Maybe there were some survivors" said Sonic

"This is quite the conundrum." said Zerach. "Cramoisi shouldn't have that much of drastic changes done to them."

"Wait, you also said that you came across a monster" asked Sonic

"Yeah, it was a group of them they were purple, black and they looked like little crawling demons" said Scorch.

"So it must be true" said Sonic

"What?" asked Darcy.

Sonic then looks at Darcy with a concerned look.

"Mother, I think we should pay a visit to Spagonia tonight, I have an old friend I want to visit" said Sonic.

Darcy looked at sonic with a concerned look, but then she smiled without any sign of worry. "Alright, I will trust your judgment"

"Thank you" said Sonic

"By the way, do we know anyone on this group of people with tattoo?" asked Darcy

"All we know is that we going to have to go to Spagonia tonight. We should go at sundown." said Sonic.

"Very well you should all turn in and get some rest. Now go" said Zerach

"Yes Father" said the members.

All the members returned to the room chambers

Shadow and Rouge walked back to there room but shadow had some thoughts going through his head. Rouge went to him to try and comfort him.

"Could I really have a sister?" asked Shadow "The Professor or Maria didn't tell me about this."

"Shadow?" said Rouge.

"Rouge I'm sorry but I need to do some thinking"

"Alright"

Shadow walked away from rouge leaving her alone.

"Darcy do you think there could have been some children that survived during that attack" asked Zerach

"No, all of them were killed we were the only survivors I'm sure of it.

_**True feelings**_

In the castle courtyard Sonic and Amy were sitting in a old stone gazebo with a broken roof and mossy benches. Sonic looks at the same white stone Darcy gave him. He places the stone in the small slot and sets it in there. "heh, perfect fit"

"So..how do you feel..now that our family's gotten bigger?" Amy asked

"Mmmm..Well…I feel kind of…nervous….about what mother said. You…know..this light"

"Yeah….so…"

'So…what if…what will happen if we turn evil…..for a long time I was a hero…and now..There's a chance that we could all destroy the world? Sometimes I think why I even wanted to be a Cramoisi. I know I did it for you but….what will happen if…'

"Sonic" Amy gets up and looks at him. "Why are you worried?"

"I don't want any of us to destroy this world…what if we don't find the light? What If we turn evil just for the sake of us being together. What if people die because of.."

"Will you shut up!" Sonic looks at Amy with a surprised expression. "I'll tell you what's wrong: You! What happened to you? You're Sonic the hedgehog! The words "What if" Isn't even in your dictionary! What happened to you these past few months?"

"Well…I changed…" Sonic shuddered "I'm not the hedgehog I was! I can't go in the sun…I can only run in night! My life is different! I'm different…"

"Sonic…" Amy walks up to Sonic. "To me…you never changed….you were always the same hedgehog I fell in love with. You never doubt yourself.."

"She's right" the two of them see Tails walk up to them. "You never doubt yourself before…you always taught me to never give up, Sonic.

"That's right" Cosmo came up and while holding a potted plant. "If you acted the same way you did years ago…you would have never saved the universe. I know you can save us from becoming evil.

"See?" Amy asked "They think you are overreacting they know you it"

"I know…it's just.."

"It's just what… Sonic?" Silver and Blaze were standing on top of the broken stone gazebo. He jumps down and stares at them. 'That you are different now? That you're afraid to die? That you're scared that you will become evil? So what?" Blaze comes jumping down from the gazebo after Silver.

"Besides…you're not alone you know? Weren't you the one who taught me that it's ok to rely on others? We'll be there to help, if you need it."

"Heh…kind of a cheesy way of putting it wouldn't you say.?" Sonic asked

"Hey! Yeah…you're right…but I'm still right"

"That is Cheesy, sis" Everyone saw rouge hanging from the ceiling. She swoops down in the middle of everyone.

"How long have you been up their?" Sonic asked

"Long enough.. Shadow's kind of thinking of the things you saw.

"See, Sonic? Everyone cares for you…and they know that you will find a way to bring the light back to the heart of the Cramoisi."

Sonic looks at everyone and chuckles. "You guys are right….Heh…I don't know what came over me. We'll find this light and stop the dark from taking over! I never turn my back on my friends, and I never look back.

"That's the spirit!" Amy said while hugging him.

"I'm so happy for you guys" Rouge said.

"By the way…" Sonic turns to Rouge. How..have you been since you changed?"

"Eh…it's been ok. after quitting GUN and becoming a Cramoisi, and being with Shadow things have been alright. Hunting for gems at night can be a real pain though.

"How about you Tails?" Amy asked

"It's so cool! With my new night vision, I can work in the dark and I don't have to sleep as much ether. I do miss my old workshop..but so far I got so many crafts and planes done."

"What about this new power you got?" Silver asked

Tails holds out his hand and makes a yellow flame appear. "I've been working to control this power. Blaze and Mother showed me a few things too. I've also noticed that I have fire tails in my back too. And every time I get stronger….another one grows, so far I'm up to six."

"I think it's kind of cool. Just be careful around Cosmo will ya?"

"I'd never do anything to hurt her, or call her a stupid flower."

"I said I was sorry!"

"How about you Cosmo? How have you been doing?"

"It's very strange…and the way I have been since I came back. It seems I've changed so much.

"Besides the fact you're more hostile then ever?" Silver chuckled. Everyone looks at him making silver stop. "Too soon?"

"Anyway….other then my recent changes of my attire and my attitude things have been great…especially..now that I'm with Tails."

"Well…as for me" Blaze said. "Other then the fact of me going to my kingdom and explaining to my parents why I am wearing a cloak all the time, things couldn't be better..although I do miss the sun sometimes. What about you, Silver?"

""not much to say…I mean..I didn't leave anyone behind in the future. So I'm happy to be with Blaze and be apart of this family.

"Really? You didn't leave anyone behind?" Sonic asked

"Of course I…." Silver then thinks back to seeing that yellow hedgehog he saw earlier. He then looks back at the others.

"Heh…well anyway…How about you Amy?"

"I miss shopping and going to the beach, but I guess since I can make my own clothes, I won't need to go shopping. "

"I wonder how the Knucklehead is doing. Where is he?"

"He and Julie went to go train some new members" Tails said

"What about Cream and Rocky?"

"Sleeping" Rouge answered

"Hey everyone" Everyone turns and see Saphron, Jayden, Zoomer and Tawny. "What are you guys doing?

"Just thinking about how things were before we became Cramoisi."

"Oh…' Tawny sits on a long bench right next to the others.

"Heh…filled with misery and woe." The red head Saphron said walking closer and sitting down. "I never want any part of my old life"

"What kind of girl were you before you changed, Tawny ?" Amy asked.

"I…was…look, it doesn't matter alright…I hated my other life and I'm happy to be here with all of you..that's all you got to know."

Jayden was looking away after he heard Tawny. 'Jayden…uhhh…" Tails walks up to Jayden. "how about you….it's been six months since…"

"Since his life got better…huh! Yeah…he must have had some great parents"

"Tawny!" Amy shouted "How can you be so.."

"It's ok" Jayden spoke still looking the other way "I…I still miss them" his eyes start to water. "But..you guys took me in and made me one of you…so I feel much closer to you…."

"Awww…poor Jay-Jay" Saphron comes up and hugs him. "We forgot what a nice life you had before."

"It's Ok…I like my life the way it is now."

"As it should be.." Tawny said

'Hey Zoomer. What kind of life did you have?" silver asked

"I was a guitarist" Zoomer said a little proudly.

"No way!" Tails said

"It's true! I was going around city to city..zone to zone playing for many people."

"Wow!" Said Sonic " I played a little too. So why did we see you nearly dying the other night?"

Zoomer looks down before answering. "Well..I was jumped for some reason. Next thing I know..i woke up in the same room Daniel put me in.

"Do you have anyone you left behind? Any parents?"

"No…"

"Oh…."

"Eh…Personally…I think you're better off with us." Tawny said smiling.

"Tawny…this isn't just some club or something…his life is changed forever" Sonic stated

"It's ok Big bro. I'm kind of happy now. I get free electricity a place to stay and also food. This place is awesome!"

"Heh heh! Well good for you kid" Rouge said "Anyway…we should get some rest..we have a big day tomorrow."

Everyone got up and walked back to their rooms. Tawny was walking to her room right next to Saphron's and Jayden's room. She closes the door and sighs. She plops on her bed and looks at the ceiling. She closes her eyes and begins to think of a tall pale man yelling and her running away from the voice. She keeps running out of the building, running to a cliff and falling off the cliff. Her eyes shoot open as she sees that she was back in the room. She looks around and at her hands. She clenches her fist and grits her teeth. "I never want to go back there…ever" She turns and looks at the window where the moon was shining and slowly drifts to sleep.

What kind of surprises are in store for our heroes? Too cliché I know…

Well find out next time…

((((Next chap)))))

I'm Knuckles the echidna. Man…never a dull moment here in the castle. After sonic learns of a conspiracy in Spagonia we get ready to head over there and try to figure out more about it. Little that we suspect we run into the solar tremor. It turns out he has a whole crew all over the city..are they and the criminal conspiracy connected somehow? We're going to get to bottom of this and find out what happened to the Chaotix.

Next time: Subsiding the Solar Tremor

I can't believe this guy is an echidna!


	3. The hunt for the Solar Tremor!

Darcy was standing outside of the castle on the highest tower. She looks at the large cloudy sky as the light wind blows on her face. Zerach walks up from behind reading a book. He closes the book and walks up to Darcy. Darcy looks at him and smiles. Zerach leads over and kisses his queen and they both look at the night time sky.

"It's lovely isn't it?" Zerach asked

"Indeed…" Darcy said. "The very clouds that wrap the sky is what keeps our hearts connected" Darcy's left hand starts to glow a purple aura. She lifts her hand and out came a ray of dark energy that shoots to the sky. There was a large shadowy burst that covered most of the sky. "Now…Darkness is what keeps us alive….the more we cling to it…the more we lose ourselves. I remember days when my mother told me stories of this very thing happening. Although I had no idea that it would happen in this generation"

"Darcy…"

"Zerach….there are some things in this world that still surprises me. Sometimes I wonder…..if I should have stayed with our children..and fought for them as bravely as they fought for me." Zerach walks over and lets Darcy lay on his shoulder.

"I too wish there was more we could have done. Though their bodies are now faded away from history…their hearts…will be with us, and those who take their place. They are far from gone, my dear. We will make sure that this generation will live on. I have foreseen it. Light and darkness shall be at balance. Much evil will fall by our claws. And light will shine in the hearts of many. You must not let the thought of the past…ruin what you hope for in the future. Because these children…all of these children…all who will become children… they _are_ our future.

"I understand" Darcy said with sincerity "Still…without light….we are nothing….we are merely vessels of power without judgment. Our hope now looks to the Azure knight; Sonic the hedgehog."

"Do not let go of that hope, my darling." Zerach looks back up to the sky. "Hope…is all we have."

_**Chapter 3**_

_**The hunt for the Solar Tremor**_

_**Sonic and Amy**_

In the ancient castle the Cramoisi were about to begin their day. Sonic and Amy were still asleep in there room. They both look peaceful as they softly snore in the same bed. Amy had waist-long hair and a purple dress. Sonic had on black pants, and they both weren't wearing any shoes. Sonic opens his Red-violet eyes, and sees Amy's cute shining eyes glow in the dark. He gave her a kiss on the forehead which made her slowly open her eyes.

"You know the penalty for waking me up?" she asked smiling

"Uhhhhh nope" said Sonic.

Amy then grabs sonic and gives sonic one of her death hugs. After they finished they pull away they both smile at each other.

"There! Your bill is paid" said Amy

Sonic chuckles and gets out of bed to stretch his arms and legs. He walks up to the window and looks at the dark sky. "Today's forecast…cloudy..as always…."

Amy looks out the window and sees the clouds. "Yup..but for some reason it's much darker than before. Mother must have done this." Sonic turns around and walks over to the closet to get his scarf. He wraps it around his neck and puts on his shoes. "Hey..Sonic…do you think we will ever see the sun again? You know…without getting burned I mean.

Sonic looks back at Amy and gets up. "I have a feeling we will. Someday…we'll find Zerach's ring and feel the sunlight again." Amy smiles at that comment while putting on a new dress. "And when we do…I'll take you to the beach. Just like before." Sonic reaches into one of his pockets and gets out a seashell necklace. Amy's eyes widen and she puts her hands on her mouth letting out a gasp. "Remember this?"

"I-It's the…charm…bracelet I was going to give to you….but I thought Eggman destroyed it" (anyone remember that ep on Sonic x? Anyone…no? Well sucks for you! XD jk)

"Yeah….but I was able to tie up the ones that didn't get smashed into a new one. I thought it looked cool."

Amy still covered her face as her eyes began to water. "Oh Sonic!" She runs over to Sonic and hugs him. "Thank you so much!"

"No..thank you..maybe when we go to the beach…all make you one."

"That would be wonderful!" They both kiss each other for a about 4 minutes before finally breaking. They then both stare at each other eyes and continue to hug each other real close. "Why don't we see what the others are doing? We should be heading over to Spagonia.

"*sigh* you're right…." Sonic beaks free and both of them walk over to the restroom to get ready for the day.

_**Knuckles and Julie **_

Julie was in the bathroom getting ready. She was a pink Echidna with metallic hair and arm she wore a blue and black tank top with blue pants. She was fixing up her face getting ready for the day, when she left Knuckles was already up doing push-ups. Knuckles had on a green vest with tan pants he was doing his normal workout routine.

"999,996- 999,997-999, 998-999, 999, 1,000,000." said Knuckles

"You do one million push-ups in one day?"

"No, but since I've become a Cramoisi I've been a lot stronger. I'm not even tired."

"(giggles) oh you are so cute when you act tough"

Knuckles ran up to Julie and gave him a kiss

"Mmmm your mouth taste like cinnamon" said Knuckles

"Yours too"

"Say,did you hear what sonic said about what he saw last night?"

"You mean the other Echidna. Yeah it's amazing another echidna other than us!"

"Well I hope this doesn't change our plans to "save' our race."

"Ohh it won't. Perish the thought. Knuckles gave a small smirk. "Still….my father told me that we were the last of our kind."

"Apparently not…would sonic lie?" 

"I guess not. He better not!"

"I wonder what he's like…"

'He better stay way form you!"

"Oh you're so jealous"

"Dang right I am!"

"Oh calm down…I'm not going to fall for them. I said I loved you"

"MMM-mmm sure…" Knuckles turns around crossing his arms.

"Ohhh! You are so stubborn!" Julie crosses her arms and turns away, and sits on the bed. Knuckles felt bad now. He walks over and tries to hug her. Julie lays her head on Knuckles' Shoulder. "I can't stand you sometimes. You know that?"

"Yeah…I know" Julie moves away from Knuckles. Then he lifts her head with his hand. 'Come on….let's see a smile don't give me that-OW!"

Julie bit Knuckles' finger. "That's punishment for being stubborn. Now we have got to go meet others we might get the chance to meet that echidna. Julie gets up and walks out of the door while Knuckles was holding his finger. All he did was crack a smile.

"She's so cute when she's mad at me" He follows her outside of the room.

_**Sliver and Blaze**_

Silver was walking around in the hallway. After having some breakfast, he goes into his room.

"Hey Blaze you-OH!" Blaze barely had any clothes on and still getting dressed "Wha! Oh! I'm sorry I should have knocked first" Silver said closing his eyes.

"It's Ok" said Blaze smiling and blushing

"Let me just-"

"No, it's fine."

"Huh?"

"As long as it's you Silver It's alright. You are allowed to look at me this way"

"Oh Right' (Heh heh) so you ready to go to Spagonia?"

"I'm still getting dressed genius!"

"Oh Yeah "

Blaze walks over to Silver and gives him a hug. Silver felt her cold body and closes his eyes.

"You're so naïve, but I still love you"

"(Heh heh) I could stay like this forever"

Blaze hugged Silver even tighter, and wrapped her tail around him too. "Mmmm….. Me too"

They both embraced each other and felt their flames of passion kindle inside

"I'm still spoiling you" said Blaze

"Then spoil me all you want" said Silver

_**Tails and Cosmo**_

Tails was working in the basement checking the machines and the generators making sure everything is to everyone's liking. But on the ceiling he was being watch by a certain seederan. She had long messy emerald green hair and a dress and violet buds in her head. She smiles with her pearly white fangs, as she looks down at the unsuspecting fox.

"I've got you my little gazelle" she whispered

She quietly swoops down and tip-toes to the fox; then gets ready to pounce but before she got close Tails disappears and reappears above her. He grabs her and they both fall on the ground. Tails was smiling as he looked at the bewildered seederan. Now _she_ looks surprised of how he knew she was coming.

"Now who did you say was the helpless gazelle?" he said

"(light giggle) Okay you got me. So what are you doing down here?" she asked.

"Just working and getting ready to go"

"So you're going too. Then so am I."

Tails jumps at Cosmo's comment."But…. it might be dangerous."

"And….." Cosmo stares at Tails.

"You might get hurt"

"Oh quit worrying! Big Brother said that the Cobalt Shroud isn't in that part of the world."

"Well….."

"Oh Please Oh Please Oh Please Oh Please!" Cosmo begged.

"Alright! There are enough people going so…."

"YAY! Come on!"

"WAH!" Cosmo was pulling Tails out of the room. "You sure have changed a lot since you came back to life."

"I know…but I can't help it…since I got this new power…I've felt so much stronger" Cosmo looks back at Tails. "But….that doesn't change anything…I'm still the little alien girl you fell in love with"

Tails looks at her and smiles, though she has changed a little, he still remembers the days they spent together in space. "Yeah you still are"

_**Rocky and Cream**_

_Rocky…! Rocky….! Help me!_

_Brother….?_

_I need you….please…help me…_

_Big Brother where are you?_

"_Help me…you must…help….'_

"BIG BROTHER! DON"T GO!"

Rocky a brown rabbit, with an orange vest white pants and was waking up in cold sweat. The scream woke cream up; she looks at Rocky panting harshly. She rushes over to him and gave him a hug.

"Rocky what's wrong?" She said hugging him "It's ok. it was just a dream, it's over now."

"No"

"Huh?"

"My big brother…." Rocky hugs Cream. "He…he needs me…I have to find him!"

"Your big brother?"

Rocky then took out a little bronze emblem shaped like the sun from one of his bags. He showed it to Cream."He gave this to me before we were separated"

"Wow its lovely"

"Yeah, I never saw him again. That's why I want to go with the others to Spagonia. Sonic said that there was a guy with a moon tattoo I remember my big brother had the same tattoo but it was a sun. I think him and my big Brother are somehow linked."

"Well… let me go with you, after all I want to see…" Cream blushes before speaking again. "My future brother in law." Rocky then blushes a little after hearing that. She has actually talking as if they were already married, and they aren't even in their teens yet. "You did say you wanted to stay with me for eternity did you?" she asked

"Wel…Yes, of course I did!"

She then walks over and grabs his hand "Then we are in this together and you're not stopping me"

Rocky just stares at Cream for a second and then smiles and gives her a hug.

"Thank you Cream Thank you"

"Anytime"

_**Shadow and Rouge **_

Shadow was standing on the balcony with his arms crossed with his eyes closed. A lot was still on his mind after what he heard about him having a sister.

"I know I lost my memory, but I'm almost sure that I don't remember having a sister." He stands their puzzling on this ordeal for hours now. Rouge, a White bat with a purple leather jacket and pants came with two cups of blood. She walks up to him and places the cups on the table next to him. "Thank you"

"You're welcome, honey. Still a little confused?" she said while drinking.

"Yes, I don't know what's going on. If I had a sister then why can't I remember her? And why would she attack our Sonic and the others?"

"I don't know. It's hard to tell, but that's why we're going with the others to see what is going on"

" If these people are responsible to what happened to Omega, I'll drain them dry.

"Oh…. you're so worried. Look… we are going to figure this out, alright? You have me and our entire family on your side, who you can call in a matter of seconds,"

Shadow looks at Rouge then looks back out to the cloudy sky.

"I…Thank you Rouge, I needed that" he said finishing his drink. "But does that faker have to be leading?"

"Mother said that you two are the knights of dark radiance, if there truly is going to be a big fight then we have to be ready for anything"

"*Sigh* whatever…but I won't like it- Whoa!"

Rouge then grabbed shadow by his scarf. He was smiling deviously.

"Where not leaving for another few minutes maybe we can have some fun until then"

Shadow could not help but smile back he then closed the door and lock it behind him.

_**The plan**_

Tawny was walking in the halls looking around. The entire castle was dark and dank she also has seen a mouse or two run around. She sees one scamper across the nearby pillar. She smiles and quickly follows it. The mouse stops for one second. Tawny pounces on the mouse and catches it. She looks at the mouse and smiles. She then lifts it up and opens her mouth.

"Uhhh Tawny?" Tawny turns and sees Zoomer, and Saphron next to Jayden holding hands. Tawny looks at them with a shocked expression. "You know…though we drink blood, we do eat some normal food from time to time." Saphron said

"Ohh…heh heh heh…. Right! uhhhh how much of that did you see?' Tawny asked steeply.

"We've seen enough…" Zoomer said chuckling

"but he looked so yummy and..hey..' Tawny notices the two of them holding hands. "Oh…Saahron, you never told me you and Jayden have been, going steady"

Saphron looks at Jayden who looks at her blushing. Saphron turns back to Tawny and blushes. "Well uhhh..heh heh…"

"It's cool. I'm happy for you both." Tawny puts the mouse down and it dashes off. She stares at it and snorts. "You win this round"

"So anyway" Zoomer starts talking 'Our sibs are heading over to a city."

"Great! What are we waiting for? Let's go before..'

"We're not going" Saphron said flatly

"What? Why not?" Tawny whined

"Mother says that only the leading members can go"

"I want to go too" Jayden said

"Jayden we can't"

"We have too…mother will understand why I want to go." Jayden was clenching his fist. "I want to know more about this guy who blew up the Aquatic base.

"She's not going to let us go" Saphron tries to reason to him.

"Oh really? Tawny puts her hands on her hips. "We'll see about that" Tawny starts walking toward the throne room.

"Where are you going?" Saphron asked

"I'm going with the others. Mother can't say no if she doesn't see us right?"

"Tawny! We could get into trouble!"

"I'm going and that's that! You are welcome to tag along if you want."

'Ugh! You are so stubborn!" Saphron follows Tawny to the throne room.

"Hey wait!" Jayden follows the two girls.

"*Sigh* Oh well…no use standing around." Zoomer shrugs his shoulders and follows the others

_**The Trip**_

"So, how long will it take for us to get to Spagonia?" asked Amy

"About 30 minutes maybe less, anyway put your cloak on". Said Sonic.

"Ok!"

Sonic and Amy walk to the throne room and saw their friends in the same purple cloaks as everyone else. The cloaks only coverd there backs and heads but you could still see the clothes they were wearing.

"Sonic, are you sure we should be going now while the sun is out?" asked Tails

"We have to. If we are going to meet these people, they may be the lead we have to finding out where are friends are and more about this Criminal Underground.

""Also..the shroud won't suspect us traveling in the daytime" Amy added

"It sounds like this mystery character knows a lot about us" said Rouge. "How do we know this isn't a trap?"

"We don't" said Shadow "but I doubt that they will stand a chance against me."

"So if it is a trap we could clobber them all!" said Knuckles

"But that Echidna killed council members, so why would it be a trap?" asked Silver

"The Council is evil. They kill people for no reason at all, even if it's one of their own." said Blaze

"Yeah Silver… have you forgotten what they did to Rocky?" said Amy

"Or Omega?" said Shadow

"Or Jayden's parents?" asked Tails

"All of them were innocent, and they killed them in cold blood" said Julie.

"Yes but"

(_Heh heh) It's been a while pipsqueak. _

"_That hedgehog" _Silver was thinking about the same yellow hedgehog from before.

"Wait!" Everyone turns their attention to Rocky "I…Think….That….I think I know that Echidna."

"Oh really…how?" asked Sonic.

"Well….I think that my brother might be a part of this group and maybe if I come with you then I can find out myself"

"You have a brother?" asked Tails

"Yeah, it's a little fuzzy but I think I remember my brother having one of those same tattoos like that echidna."

"Well, how interesting" said Rouge

"Well if that's the case then have Rocky come with you, Sonic" said Darcy coming in

"The forecast says that it's going to be mostly cloudy, so we should be Ok as long as we have our cloaks" said Tails

"Excellent, all of you be careful. Look out for each other and be back soon."

"Yes Mother!" said everyone.

Everyone leaves the room, but little that they knew that someone was hearing everything that was going on. Jayden Saphron, Zoomer and Tawny were close to the room hearing everything. Jayden and the others also wanted to come, but was afraid that Darcy would not let them.

Tawny sees Darcy turn around and walk back to the throne. Tawny looks back with a smile. "Ok, let's go." She whispered

"Right!" said the others.

The four of them slowly walk to the door leading out of the castle. Unfortunately however, when it comes to her Cramoisi children there is absolutely nothing they can hide from Darcy. "And just where do you think you four are going?" she said with a mother's tone.

A chill ran down their spine as they hear Darcy's voice. "_Crap!"_ Tawny said in her head. _"So close!"_ They turn around slowly to see Darcy looking very cross with them.

"Well?" Darcy asked tapping her foot. "Don't tell me you four are planning to go with your siblings.

"uuuhhh I uuuhh" stuttered Jayden. "ummmm…Tawny?"

"Of course not!" Tawny said quickly while smiling. "We..were…uhhh…Saph?"

"What..uhhh yeah..we..were.." Saphron was pausing between words thinking of something to say.

"It was Tawny's idea to go with the others" Zoomer said.

"Ahhhh! Nice going!" Tawny said

"It's not like she didn't know what we were doing." Saphron said

"_Oh great…a mom with a lie detector…just what we need" _Tawny thought.

"If you are going out, you're going to need these" said Zerach smiling.

"Zerach, what are you doing?" Darcy turns around and sees him walking up to the others.

"Darcy, can't you since the determination in Jayden's soul. He wants to see his friends again, and all his brothers and sisters will be there with them"

"But Zerach…"

"Don't be afraid my love. They will be just fine.

Darcy looks at the Zerach, and then at the kids. Tawny looks back with a puppy dog face. Saphron looks in different directions. Jayden has a pleading face. Zoomer looks up to the ceiling with his hands on his back. Darcy closes her eyes and looks the other way. "it seems my mind has been changed for me."

"So, we can go?"

"Well, I will be honest…I was going to send Tawny and Zoomer out with the others, but, seeing you four share a strong bond, you can go and support your sister"

"Thank you mother!" said Jayden and Saphron

"YES!" Tawny jumps for joy but then stops for a second. "Wait, mother, you were going to send me why?"

"Yeah, what's the deal/' Zoomer asked

Darcy lets out a light chuckle. "Have I given you a reason not to trust me, child? Go to Spagonia with your siblings and all your questions will be answered"

"Ok Mother" Tawny said still a little confused. "_Just what is mother planning?" _ She then gets a cloak form Zerach and puts it on. Saphron and Jayden do the same.

"Well I got nothing better to do anyway." Zoomer said shrugging his shoulders. He grabs the last cloak and puts it on.

"Now off you go now" Darcy said smiling.

The four of them walk out of the room with the others, and met up with them in a large metallic room where they saw the large ship; Blue Typhoon. The room was huge with a large tunnel and a gate at the end of the room.

"So this is where the ship you were talking about has been the whole time?" Tawny asked. They all walk down the steps and walk over to were where the ships entrance was.

"We get to ride in this? Awesome! Tails makes the coolest stuff. Look at it length and Density it's got to go at least mach 7! And look at the aerodynamic design. It must have taken tails at least two days to get it right" Jayden kept admiring the ship while Tawny and Saphron were standing in the background.

"Sigh…A boy and his toy" said Saphron smiling.

"He's _your_ man" said Tawny shrugging her shoulders

"Ok, everyone inside."Sonic ordered

All the Cramoisi walk in the Blue Typhoon. The humans and Zoomer stare in awe. Jayden just faints looking at all the tech. Tails sits in the Captain's chair, and presses all the buttons to activate the ship.

"All systems green." Said Amy sitting at one of the consoles.

"Engines working at full capacity" said Julie

"Master Emerald in place" Knuckles says walking in from the back.

"Activate the gateway." Said Tails

"Ohh…what happened" Jayden said getting up after fainting.

"We're about to take off" Saphron said She then hears Jayden squeal.

The large gate at the end of the tunnel opens up, revealing a pathway between two large waterfalls. The ship lifts from the ground and flies through the gate. Tails activates the cloaking device then the ship took off into the sky.

"_Be careful my children, I sense trouble that may come your way. If it truly is them, then they may be the people that will help you."_

"We should be there in a matter of minutes" said Tails

_**Spagoina: City of Scholars **_

The gang arrived at the city. Tails lands the ship right at the shipyard.. Sonic was the first to get out. He looks at all the ships docked in. Everyone else comes out of the ship wearing their cloaks.

"Ah! It's so hot!" Amy said

"So..where do we find the white echidna?" Knuckles asked

"As soon as you bleach your fur" Sonic said laughing

"Why you?" Knuckles had a mad mark on his face

"How should I know?" Sonic looks back shrugging

"Stop it, both of you!" Julie breaks them up

"We'll spit up" Shadow said walking up " Into three groups. Any questions"

"Well..I" Tails was about to say something.

"Alright…Amy, Tails Cosmo, Zoomer, and Rocky you four are with me" Said Sonic "Knuckles..see what you can find around the ship yard.

"Whatever…Julie, and Blaze. Want to come with?"

"Sure!" Julie said

"Alright. Come on Silver" Blaze said

"No need to treat me like a child" Silver said rolling his eyes.

"That leaves the last three with you and Rouge, Shadow" said Sonic.

"You got to be kidding" said Shadow slapping his face.

"What's wrong? Tired of kids already?" Sonic teased "What's going to happen once you get your own kid? I'd hate to be him or her when that happens."

"Do you ever learn how to shut up already?" Shadow asked

"It's a curse sometimes" Sonic chuckled

"Faker" Shadow looks the other way

"Ok enough" Rouge breaking up the two. "We'll take them with us, alright? We will look around up town for our mysterious characters.

"We'll search around the university." Said Amy "Come on Sonic"

"Right behind you"

"Yeah! Come on big bro!" Tawny said happily "Lead the way!"

Everyone went their separate ways around the city. Sonic was walking around the university for any evidence on the white echidna. Everyone spent about an hour looking around the city. After an hour Sonic and the others arrived at a shaded alley hiding from the sun. Sonic uncovers his hood along with the others

"This is taking too long" said Amy. "It's so hot"

"I never thought there would be a day where I hated to go outside" Tails said wiping sweat off his shoulder.

"If this echidna is evil…we would have found him by now." Said Cosmo.

"Maybe we should head back…maybe the others found some…" Suddenly everyone hears a loud boom. The all put their hoods back on and run over to a large clearing. Sonic saw two figures fighting. One of them was an blue-white hedgehog with very spiky hair. (Much spikier than shadows) and the other one was an orange echidna. He was holding two large green and orange mallets. He was using them to hit the hedgehog, but the hedgehog was blocking each of his attacks like they were nothing.

"Well… those two are going to make a scene" Zoomer said.

The hedgehog flies in the air and punches the echidna straight into a building. The other stared in horror as they saw the building crumble to the ground in a matter of seconds.

"Is he dead?" Tails asked

"I'm not sure" Sonic then sees the echidna come out of the rubble looking very upset. He was floating on a rock while standing on it. Sonic sees him summon ten more hammers that were floating in the air. Sonic was shocked to see the gleam in the echidna's eyes. He then thinks back to what he dreamed about, the orange echidna fighting in the small village watching over his son. (Chapter one). The hedgehog charges at the echidna with his hand pointing forward. He stabs him in the lower abdomen. He then sees a smile crack on the echidna's face. Sonic looks in his eyes as the echidna throws one of his hammer at the echidna then jumps higher in the air and gets out a diamond shaped stone which turns into a larger hammer. He swings his hammer at the hedgehog sending him hurling to the ground making a large crater in the ground. The echidna jumps to the ground bleeding uncontrollably. Three other people show up. One was a yellow squirrel another one was a white wolf, and the last one was a purple hedgehog. They rush over to the echidna.

"Are you aright captain?" asked the white wolf

"Y-yeah…" said the yellow squirrel "M-maybe we s-should cancel the m-mission and get you to hospital"

"This is nothing." said the echidna in a deep yet young sounding voice. "it was a quite a surprise to see Nazo do one on me"

"Nazo?" Sonic repeated "Was that the white hedgehog he was fighting. Sonic then sees the echidnas wounds instantly heal. He saw the echidna's hands glowing and healing the large gash in his lower chest. After he was done, he looks at the others and smiles.

"Now let's find that Grapple. Shall we?" he asked the others

"Yeah!" said the others. All of them got on these different kind of boards the wolf and hedgehog were on boards while the echidna was on a bike. Sonic's eyes widen as he saw the bike. It was the exact same bike he saw a while back. (See chap 15 of book one) The others recognized the bike as well. But Rocky was the one most surprised. He remembers the bike, but not just 6 months ago…there was something else about the bike that seemed familiar to him. The squirrel got on the bike with the echidna and all three of them took to the sky on their gears. Sonic and his friends see him take off. Zoomer saw the purple hedgehog. She had on a purple jacket with a pink shirt and had on blue jean pants He could not look away, he almost tripped with he was walking with the others. Amy barley catches him,

"Thanks" he said

"(Hee hee) I see my brother has his sights on someone!" said Amy.

"I..I do not!"Zoomer blushes a little

Sonic walks over to where the echidna stood. He sees where he was dripping blood. He kneels down and touches the blood.

"That had to be him!" Said Tails. "The guy who was in Solianna six months ago"

"So…he really was an echidna huh? Knuckles will be happy to know that." Said Cosmo

"That wolf…" Amy stokes her chin in thought

"What is it?"

"I remember seeing that wolf who was about to be harassed by a group of thugs. I'm almost sure that was the same wolf"

"Could she be evil too?" Zoomer asked

"Well…."

Sonic licks the blood that was on his finger.. "Mmm"

"What is it Sonic" asked Amy

"His blood tastes….very sweet like ice cream?" said Sonic

"It must be extra dark" Cosmo said

"Guess he really is evil"

"Or maybe he's a sugarholic eh Rocky" asked Tails "Rocky?"

Rocky was looking at the direction that Richter went. "_I got to talk to him."_

"Rocky?" said Tails

"Oh sorry. So you said his blood is sweet?"

"Yeah" Sonic said nodding.

"Well come on then. Lets follow him!" said Cosmo. "We have to catch him"

"Don't worry" Sonic starts sniffing in the air. "I've got his sent. Let's go and find him."

"Let's hurry I feel faint from this light" said Cosmo.

Everyone runs after the echidna. "Hey, wait shouldn't we check on the hedgehog?" Zoomer asked

"No time. We got to meet with the others." Sonic instructed. "Look out echidna…here we come"

Somewhere else in the city on top of the large clock tower, stands a cloaked man, with a brown and blue robe. Behind him was small army of blue agents staring down at the city. He stares down and looks with a smile.

"So this is Spagonia?" Asked the man with a strong voice and even stronger lisp. One of the agents brings out a stone fragment that was glowing purple. "Ah..and I see that our prey is here as well, just as the master said. Heh, heh…we'll be done with this in a matter of seconds. I want all troops to head for the criminal stronghold. Once there…those Cramoisi won't stand a chance" He stands there chuckling deeply while disappearing in a blue cloud of smoke along with the other agents.

(((((((TBC))))))))

Uh-OH! Looks like the shoud knows of the gangs whereabouts! What's going to happen next? Will they survive or is this the end?

Find out next time!

((((Next Radiant Darkness Blue dusk)))))))

This is Rouge the bat. During our little walk Shadow and I find two boys being attacked by thugs. They seem normal at first, but they actually lead us to where we meet up with the white and orange echidna. Meanwhile, Silver finds the white echidna and he tells him to follow him to the very same spot. We learn of this criminal alliance that teams up with the cobalt shroud in order to destroy us. Could these echidna' be involved with them some somehow?

Next time: Found you echidna! A new enemy appears!

Rouge: Things are never normal for us, is it?

_**Off panel:**_

_**In the jungle the mighty jungle the teddy bear sleeps tonight:**_

In the large jungle. Richter was tied up hanging on a long stick with Quinn. They were both being carried by two large apes.

"Where do you think they are taking us?" Richter asked. Quinn shrugs his shoulders. The two apes take him in front of a tall man. "Let me go! I'm innocent! Innocent I say!"

"Richter Solairte!" Shouted the man. "You are guilty of crimes all over the world!"

"Hey..what dude hasn't heard of me? So what do you want? Going to lock me way?"

"No….I'm going to have you executed" the man said calmly

"Oh is that all? How nice."

Moments later Richter's head was sitting under a large guillotine. "Guillotuie? What is this? The French revolution?"

"Silence!" Shouted the man.

"Don't I get a last request?"

"No…drop the blade!"

"Sir!" A second man came running to the guillotine. "Benjamin is coming!"

"Oh no! not now!"

"Who's benny?"

"He's a powerful being who terrorizes our beloved town and…wait why do you care?"

Richter looks away but then smiles and looks back."Tell you what….I'll beat this guy. If I do, you let me go. Sound fair?"

"You? Beat him?" The chief started laughing manically. "Please! He would eat you alive!"

"Well then…since you are killing me anyway, what have you got to lose?"

The chief stroke his chin. In thought, Alright, but don't do anything funny."

"You have my word!"

Moments later, Richter was standing outside of the town near the gate. "Alright Richter, Benjamin should be here any moment."

"Yeah yeah…."

"Chao choa cho?" Quinn asked next to Richter

"I can take him!" Richter summons his large hammers. "Come on Benny! I ain't afraid!"

Suddenly there was a loud boom coming from the ground that made a cloud of dust. Richter covers his eyes he could see the silhouette of a large creature coming this way. Quinn gasped and hid in Richter's hair and peaks out. He grips his hammers tight as the creature came closer. Richter sees the creature come into focus. It was a tiny little purple bear with a cloud on his belly. Richter tried to suppress his laughter as tears ran down his face. He then fell out laughing

"You've got to be kidding me!" Richter laughed between words "That's Benjamin? He looks like a cute little share bear!

"Oh the poor fool is going to get himself killed" said the chief shaking his head.

"And who are you, big nosed orange snake haired one?" Benjamin asked in a deep, raspy gruff voice.

"Name's Richter! You cute little Teady bear, Oh Alice would love you!"

"Cute? Is this cute?" Benjamin looks at Richter with cute eyes making a pose of him putting his finger in his mouth.

"It's awful!" said a villager

"Horiffic!" said a second one

"Filled with malice!"

"Evil!"

"Adorable!" Richter said clapping "Hey my daughter Alice would love you! You think you can maybe…." Benjamin inhales his breath and breathes out a large flamethrower where Richter was standing. When the flames disappeared Richter was gone. The townsfolk gasp out of fear.

"Well that's the end of him" said a fourth villager

"Now…where were we…" Benjamin asked

"man you got some bad breath" Benjamin turns and sees Richter smiling unburned. "But really dude..it takes a lot more than some smoke and flames to kill me.

"GRRRRRRR!" Benjamin growls and grows into a large more viscous version of himself, with large claws and big teeth. The townsfolk scream in horror and run way. Richter just stands there making a big smile! "Now that's what I'm talking about! Come on Big boy!"

The now larger Benjamin lifts his right paw. Richter looks at the paw and sees something shining in it. "Ohhh shiny!" Richter jumps at the large paw. "I hope is a diamond!" Richter pulls and pulls on the shining thing and yanks it out. He jumps down and looks at the fragment. Benjamin screams in pain and shrinks down to his regular size."Awwww! It's just a giant piece of glass!" Richter scoffs and throws the piece away.

Benjamin lets out a large gasp that turns into a light squeal. "Wha..what's happened?" He feels around his paw. "The piece of glass is gone!" He starts to laugh happily "I..I feel so relived! HA HA!" Richter looks at him with quirked eyebrow. "I feel so happy! This the greatest day of my life! HA HA HA HA HA! Thank you so much Richter! I want to make up for all the mean things I did by working hard and doing the right thing. In fact..if all of us work together anything is possible!" He said while giggling.

Richter looks away at the audience. "I liked him better when he was attacking me" he said

"Well I'm going to get some tools! See ya!" the little bear skips across the field.

"Well that was fun..i guess." Richter turns to the chief who was standing next to him. "Well there ya go! Your town is safe….now..about our agreement.

"What agreement? You now brought a new terror to our village.

"Whaaaaat?" Richter asked

"We now have to deal with mister butterfly kisses over there skipping in the field. Who do you think we are? Dora?"

"That's hard…but I can see why you're upset"

'But…I'll be happy to inform you that we will not behead you"

"Oh that's a relief"

"Because, you will now be locked up and wait to be burned at the stake for your crimes against the world!"

"Ok….that's not any better"

"Guards! Get him!"

The two apes were about to grab him. Richter looks around tying to think. He was panicking so he came up with the most complex and critical thing he can think of doing.

"Look at that fake thing I'm pointing at!" Richter said pointing. Everyone turns and looks at where he was pointing. They all say a purple large creature with wings and a bushy tail.

"Oh my that is interesting!" said the chief

Richter sees his chance and runs away from the village.

Minutes later he was far way from the village, panting like crazy."Man…how many crazy people are in this jungle? I want to go home!"

"Running away again?" Richter turns around and sees his brother Chrome.

"It wasn't me! I was captured by these apes and brought to a village with humans and, and, and, big bear! And glass and…"

"Whatever…" Chrome turns around over to the large ship behind him

"I'm telling the truth!"

"Richter, maybe you should just stay on board the ship."

Richter sees his brother walk way. He sighs in depression. Quinn comes out of his hair and starts flying. "Oh well…at least I don't have to worry about anymore strange creatures"

"Hey Pal." Richter turns and sees the same large purple creature with a business hat on and holding s suitcase. "Know where I can get a Taxi?"


	4. Found you echidna! A new enemy appears!

Knuckles and the others arrive at the harbor, looking around the large shipyard. The sun was hiding in the clouds, so it was easy to look around. He sees seagulls and sitting all over the poles and the ground. Silver chases them way by running over to them.

"Can _**you**_ act a little more mature then that?" blaze asked

"but it's so much fun" Silver whined

"Enough you two." Knuckles said "We need to find this guy"

"I wonder how Rocky is doing." Cream wondered

"Hey Knuckles look!" Julie points to two people walking around the shipyard. One of them was a amber hedgehog in a grey tank top with grey pants. Silver recognizes the other person. It was that yellow hedgehog; Zenith walking next to the hedgehog.

"*gasp* that's..!" Silver was stopped by Knuckles and they all went up to the nearby plateau. Knuckles uncovered silvers mouth and looks down at the hedgehogs.

_**Chapter 4**_

_**Found you echidna! A new enemy appears!**_

"Man…how are we supposed to find _anyone_ who knows about the Grand mafia in this sinkhole?" Zenith asked

"I'm sure we will find something" said the other hedgehog.

Knuckles watches closely at the two walk across the harbor.

"Is it my imagination or has G.U.N gotten lazy?" Zenith asked

"Not really. Seems to me that they are everywhere now. It's really getting annoying" said the other hedgehog

"Silver, is that the Hedgehog you were talking about" asked Julie

"Yeah that's him"

"The one who called you pipsqueak?" Knuckles said chuckling.

"Grrr!"

"Aww but he's my little pipsqueak!" said Blaze hugging him

"I'm not that little!" Silver shouted

"Calm down Silver. You know he kind of looks like you and so does that other one" said Blaze

"Well let's go greet them" said Knuckles

"Wait!" said Cream. "Something is coming. Something powerful can you feel it?" 

"Yeah….*Gasp* oh no!" Silver felt his heart drop when he felt something coming right this way.

"What's wrong?" Julie asked

"This is the same feeling from earlier! There's no doubt about it! It's her." said Silver

Everyone looks at a nearby ship and sees a black and red hedgehog look down at Zenith at the other hedgehog. It was Fear looking at them with a small smirk.

"You two!" She said "I'm looking for the Cramoisi. Do you know anything about them?"

"Cramoisi?" asked the amber hedgehog

"Nope..sorry…haven't seen them" said Zenith turning away

"LIARS!" shouted Fear. "You dusk raiders now very well what I am talking about! I saw you and your captain talk to one of those bloodthirsty scums!

"She's not very nice" Cream said sadly covering her eyes.

"Dusk Raiders?" Julie repeated.

"That white echidna must be one of them." Knuckles declared

Without warning, the group saw Fear attack the amber hedgehog, with an energy ball form her hand. Fear then kicks her right in a nearby ship. The hedgehog starts to glow bright amber, and push herself off the ship. She holds out her hands to push them down. For some reason Fear was pushed down to the ground. Fear tries to get up but to no avail. A large wave of energy comes from the hedgehog which pushes Fear to a nearby building. Sliver feels the same magnetic pull coming from the amber hedgehog. He sees her using her powers, and sees how similar they are to his.

"Her powers are like yours" Blaze said "Only it looks like she's better at it"

"Can you do that, Silver?" Cream asked

"No…" Silver said still looking.

Fear breaks out of the hole and charges at the hedgehog. However, she was once again thrown on the ground. She then smiles and shows a green gem in her hand.

"A chaos emerald!" Knuckles exclaimed

"Chaos control!" Fear disappears. The hedgehog looks around for her but then is kicked and thrown in the air by an upper cut. She was thrown in the air, and Fear warps next to her. The hedgehog continues getting punched and kicked and slammed to the ground. As she was falling, Fear charges at her from the sky. Little that she knew, Zenith jumps at her and punches her to another ship in the yard. Zenith swoops down and catches the hedgehog before she falls to the ground.

"Are you alright baby sis?" he asked

"Shut up and put me down"

"Jeez fine….sorry….I… UHHHH!" Zenith was pushed by an unknown force and drops to the ground.

It was Fear who attacked him. She was standing over him and picks him up and throws him at the other hedgehog. The two of them look at Fear as she walks in front of them and her hand was glowing bright yellow and red." Chaos DOOM!"

A large mass of energy, that resembles a giant hand, comes out of her hand and it blasts both Zenith and Mercury through the ships in the ship yard, it booms though the shipyard in mind blowing fury. Everyone covered their eyes for a brief moment. When they open their eyes, all that was left was the massive destruction of all the ships that were in the way of the unstoppable energy . All the ships were either sunk or cut in half. Fear smiles as she looked at the destruction of the ships.

"(Heh heh heh) If you're out there Shadow this is the true power of an ultimate life form, and your little cronies were the perfect witnesses!" Fear said triumphantly. She warps out using chaos control. The Cramoisi look in horror at the carnage that was now the shipyard Cream was holding on to Blaze sobbing in fear.

"Are…they gone?" asked Julie

Silver swoops down and looks for the two but could not find anything. He then kneels down closing his eyes. He slams his head down on the ground. He didn't know why, but for some reason he was feeling really hurt right at that moment. It was as if he witnessed his friends and home being destroyed all at once. He looks out to the harbor at all the destruction still deep in thought.

_**Ezekiel and Tyler **_

"Uhhh I'm sooo bored" said Tawny "Big Brother! Can't we get out of the sun yet…? I'm cooking over here!"

"Quit whining!" Shadow said in a stern voice

The third group of Cramoisi was walking at the northwest part of the city. They've been walking for so long, still wearing their protective cloaks. Jayden was walking sluggish and his eyes half open.

"So..hot….mouth dry…not going to make it….feel…so…weak.." Jayden said slowly falling to the ground with swirly eyes. "Go..Go on without me…Farwell cruel and sick world..mom, dad I'm coming.

"Please Jayden" Saphron said helping him up "You're not making this better. "Ohhh…. my head"

"Shadow we really should take a break; I'm feeling kind of faint too "said Rouge

"Just a little longer"

" AHH CRAP! AHHHH! We're all going to die out here! How are we supposed to find this Criminal Underground any-" Tawny was cut off by a strange smell .Everyone else stopped to smell the aroma "Guys… can you smell that?"

"Yeah, it's coming from in there" said Saphron pointing at a two story building up ahead.

"Humph, looks like we get to break after all" said Shadow.

"Ahhhhh! At last!" said the three humans with sparkling eyes.

They all went into a two story house where they heard bashing and crashing, the sound of glass breaking.

"Ah…shade…sweet shade" Tawny said sighing and taking off her hood.

"No Please stop!" said a voice

"It's coming from upstairs" said Jayden.

They all ran up stares and went into a door where they saw 5 guys. Two of them were up against the wall looking at the other three with guns One of the boys had Green hair with blue jeans and a green striped shirt. The other one had red hair had on a blue and red shirt with black short pants.

"You two…..I am tired of you! Because of you, Grapple is angry! I have always thought right from the start you would be nothing but trouble.

"B-but..uncle..we did as you asked us to….it wasn't our fault the police were there." Said the green haired boy.

"Why do you hate us?" asked the red head

"I never like you damn brats! I've always hated you from the day you were born I should have killed you when I killed your Parents!

"What! The green haired boy was shocked at what he heard. Tears then ran down his face "You killed them?"

"You said they died in an accident!" The read haired boy said shouting

The other two men get out a pair of guns and point them at the two boys. "I..lied..they both had a nice drive but were driven off the road"

"How…how could you…?"The green haired boy covered his eyes quietly sobbing.

"Damn you! How could you do such a thing?" shouted the red head.

"They were in the way of our goals so we had to do away with them. It's just business. Now because of you brats, we won't be getting paid! Now.." He brings out a whip and starts to crack it. "Which one of you wants to be spanked first before I end your miserable lives?

"No! Please…not again.." said the green haired one shedding tears. "We're so sorry..we" AHHH! The boy was hit in the face by the whip he looks at the man while rubbing the large red mark on his face.

"Shut your bloody mouth!" said the leader of the group.

Jayden starts to glow a crimson glow and his eyes were glowing like pools of blood. His eyes were completely red. He was growling louder and louder.

"You….Monsters!" he said in a deep dark voice. His hair was slowly lifting up and turning a darker brown as a dark purple aura shrouds him.

They all turned and looked at Jayden in a blinding rage. Tawny and Saphron then looked at them as well and had her sights on the other two.

"Unforgiveable…" Saphron said with her eyes glowing in rage "Treating a child like he's garbage!"

"You're going to regret ever being born!" Tawny said cracking her knuckles.

"Get out of here you brats" said the leader as he shoots Jayden in the chest. It had no effect.

"**AAAAAAAHHHH!"** roared Jayden as he charges at the leader pinning him down to the ground. He breathes deeply staring down with his eyes as red as blood. He then grabs him by the neck. Everyone heard the man choking loudly and foaming at the mouth. The man felt Jayden's claws dig deeper and deeper in his flesh "**You make me sick! Killing innocent lives just for fun! You're going to feel the same pain as every dark soul!" **The leader struggled to break free but was unable to get free from Jayden's grasp. He felt Jayden's nails dig deeper into his flesh. He couldn't scream he couldn't make a sound. All he did was look in horror at Jayden's rage. The other men were frozen in fear not moving an inch. **"You'll never see the light of day again!" HAAA!** Jayden lets go of the man's neck and swipes his claw at his face making him scream in pain. "**Remember this pain….as you burn in hell!" **Jayden bites the man's neck and drains him dry. The other two then started to run but Tawny stopped them.

Ah, Ah, Ah, "said Tawny waving his fingers

"I think he might get lonely there" said Saphron

They both do the same thing to the two of them. Then they both turned to ash. The two boys look in horror at the sight of what they saw but at the same time they were somewhat grateful.

Jayden was panting with blood slowly dripping from his mouth. Tears were falling down on his face. He looks back at Shadow and Rouge. They both could feel that Jayden was feeling anger, sadness and excitement at the same time. Shadow looks away and closes his eyes. Rouge just looks at him with sympathy. Saphron walks over and hugs him. Jayden hugs her back and closes his eyes. "I'm….I'm sorry…"

"I'm here for you ok?" Saphron said

"Man...Didn't know he had it in him. " Tawny said. She then walks over the two boys. She walks over to the red head one. "Oh thank goodness you're OK! No need to worry, you're safe now!"

"Safe, whada mean?" Asked the red head. "We got saved by a freak, who just bit everyone like a vampire"

"Excuse me!" Tawny asked with wide eyes. "Of all the nerve! I..OH! I can't stand this cloak!" Tawny then removes her cloak to show herself the two saw her wings her fang and her pale skin, and were even more spooked. "It's that _any_ way to thank your savors, you ungrateful brat!" she said

"GHA! Cram-Cram-Cram" said the red head as the green haired one watched

"Cram-Cram-Cram!" Tawny mocked "Just say it. Come on say it. You know you want to! CRAMOISI! Said Tawny jumping at him and scarring him making him jump.

"GAH! Uncle mentioned them! I've seen this before. First they going to bite us one by one till we can't move! Then they're going to eat our brains and inners and leave our smelling corpses for the obituary in the papers!"

Everyone stares at the young man blankly. "That's disgusting! Were not zombies!" said Tawny

"Well you sure smell like one. P.U.! Don't you ever bathe?"

"*GASP* are you saying I stink!" Tawny walks up closer.

"Big time! Like a corpse in a old dumpster filled with old cheese dog business and cabbage"

"THAT"S IT! Tawny's forehead had multiple anime mad marks. RRRRAAAAHHHH!" She jumps at the young boy

"STOP!" Jayden steps in between them, holding Tawny back. She was flailing her arms trying to get the boy.

"Let me at him! I'll tear him apart! I'll rip his eyes out! I'll make sure he doesn't have any kids once I rip out his-! "

"ENOUGH!" shouted Shadow. Jayden and Tawny look at his deadly gaze.

"What kind of example would you be setting for us if you did any that, Tawny. They just had a bad experience. Now apologize." ordered Rouge.

"Grrrr!" Tawny looks back at the boy with narrow eyes "I'm so very sorry" she said without meaning it.

"Heh! You should be!"

"RRRRR! I ought a- "

"UHH Thank you so much for saving us!" said the green haired one standing in front of his friend. He was doing his best to make sure that his friend didn't get hurt

"You're welcome. And please don't be afraid we are very nice people" said Saphron

"I'm so sorry about your parents." said Jayden bowing

"Uncle lied to us. He didn't love us at all he gave us stuff but he didn't even love us. Just gave us stuff just to make sure we left him alone." The Green haired boy said with his head down.

"Aww that's terrible!" said Tawny

"Like you care, zombie!" said the Red head

"OOHH I'm so to rip out your manhood right now! Why can't you be more like your friend?"

"Please forgive him. He's always this way to any one new."

The young boy looks at Tawny with pleading eyes. Tawny stares directly at him. She then slowly walks over and leans on the wall. "Well. I guess I can forgive him. You know you're very nice." She said in a flirty voice.

"Uhhh…thanks" the boy takes a few steps back.

"Aww…. Don't be shy. I don't bite…well much anyway"

"It's not that…" the boy said nervously

"Then what?" Tawny asked still smiling. She really tried to give the boy some form of charm.

"You..uhh…kind..of…You don't smell very nice. I'm sorry, but my friend has a point, your scent is very strong.

Tawny had a shocked expression. "It's it that bad?"

"It must be from the cloaks." Everyone smells under their cloaks "Ugh! I reek! This is awful!" said Rouge

"I told you we need to get out of the sun!" said Tawny

"Don't remind me" said Shadow

"I'm sorry you had to see me this way" Tawny looks back at the green hair. "Uh…what's your name?"

"Oh! I'm sorry. I'm Ezekiel but you can call me "Zeke" and this is Tyler my closest friend

"Yeah….. Hi" the red head said flatly. "Just call me Ty"

"Hi, I'm Jayden Callahan"

"My name is Saphron Kintobor"

"Tawny Ericson"

"Hello! it's nice to meet you all" said Zeke bowing

"Even though you smell horrific" Ty giggled

"OH! I'm so sick of you! Tawny shouted "I why I ought to-" While the humans were talking Shadow and Rouge exchanged looks trying to commune.

"Shadow…these kids know a few things about criminal activity in the city. Maybe they'll know where the main hang out is" Rouge quietly mentioned

"You're right." Shadow agreed. "But why bring these kids with us? Little unorthodox isn't it? Plus they are civilians, they'll be a hindrance."

" Do you have any better ideas? It's either that or we bake in the sun looking for the hang out.

"Rouge…there has to be…"

"They don't have any parents or guardians…so the best thing to do is to bring them with us"

"*sigh* fine…but if they mess up, I'm leaving them behind"

Rouge smiles and walks up to the two boys. "Well, do you boys have a place to go?" Rouge asked the boys

"No, this was just our uncles place, we have no other family so were pretty much alone." said Zeke.

"Really?" Rouge said looking back at Shadow who looks the opposite way. "You..could come with us"

"Hey Yeah! Let's take them with us maybe we can take them in once we get rid of the criminal underground." said Jayden

"Jayden! You can't just tell other peoples plans out in the open" said Tawny

"If you want to hunt those curs down , then go nuts. Those people are nothing but bastards" said Ty

"Well we're going to get those evil doers because we're invincible!" said Jayden making a pose.

Everyone looks at Jayden with a tiny sweat drop as he laughed like a super hero.

"Come on Superboy. We need to get going" Tawny grabs Jayden by the arm. They all walk out of the building and put there cloaks back on. As they were on their way out, Zeke and Ty followed them. Zeke was the first to walk outside.

'Hey! What are you doing?"

Zeke looks back at Ty. "I'm going with them. They need to know how to get there."

"Are you nuts? His gang will eat you alive! Plus why would you go with them?"

"Why not?"

"I'll give you three good reasons why not; 1. They just killed three guys without mercy. 2. They look like demons from hell. And 3. They smell like…"

"Ok that's enough!" Saphron shouted

"Can I PLEASE drain him?" said Tawny.

"NO" said Rouge and Shadow

"Can you help us find the stronghold?" asked Saphron

"Of course, we would be honored!" said Zeke

"Zeke! come on! Don't drag me into this!"

"Excuse me for a minute." Zeke pulls Ty way from the others. "Ty, do you want our parents to be avenged?" he whispered

"Well yeah…but…"

"Don't you see?…I have a feeling that these guys can help us get back at Grapple for killing our parents."

"Whoa….that's amazing.."

"So you agree?"

"No, that you would even think of revenge…it's so not like you. But you are right. I want them to pay for what they did.

"So…you'll let me guide them."

"No, at least not alone. You might get in to some trouble so I'm coming with you."

"Ty, you don't have…"

"We stick together, you can't stop me either"

Zeke looks at Ty for a minute and then smiles. "Thanks Ty" He then turns back and looks at the others. "We will both be delighted to guide you to your destination."

'just keep your distance….you might make me gag"

"I'm warning you! One more time man! One more time!"

"What are going to do girly? Spared your stink on me?"

Tawny sees a light post next to them. She kicks it from the bottom making it fall. She then picks up the pole, bends it four different ways and drops it on the ground while taking off the lamp part. Zeke and Ty just stood there with their mouths wide open.

"Do you have anything else to say?" asked Tawny.

"Uhh Master Grapple's headquarters is just across town." Ty said quickly "In the outskirts near the mountain side. Zeke, let's show them the way."

"That's more like it. Now please lead the way." Tawny said sweetly. Zeke and Ty were walking ahead. Tawny looks at the lamp piece. "This will look good in my room."

"What did we tell you about breaking public property" Rouge asked

"Uhh…don't.." Tawny said looking back.

"You're going to be in trouble…" Jayden said

"Hey! It's not like it was a building or anything."

"You're lucky no one was around…otherwise _you _would have to wipe everyone's memory" Shadow said.

"Awww…that's no fun…" Tawny whined.

_**The white echidna **_

Back at the shipyard, the Cramoisi were still looking where Fear nearly destroyed the entire harbor. They all swoop down from the hill they were on where Silver was he continues to look around but could not find anything. Silver looks down at his failed attempt to find any trace of the two hedgehogs.

"I don't get it! Why did that guy know me!" he asked himself "AAHHRRGGHH!" He kneels down and slams his fist on the ground.

"Silver, calm down there's nothing you can do about that now." said Blaze

"But…!"

"Silver, we have to find the others, alright?" said Julie "I'm sorry"

"*Sigh* Fine…."

They all we about to leave the harbor when the felt a certain chill. It was as if they stepped in to a refrigerator. Though they can hardy feel pain they can still feel things like heat or cold.

"Man why is it so cold?" asked Knuckles

"I don't know" said Julie

"Guys! Look!" said Cream

There was a teal circle that appears right in front of them. Then a figure slowly ascends from the circle. When the figure became tangible, they saw the White echidna. He looks at them and smiled, after he recognized Silver.

"A…another echidna.." Julie said

"I don't believe it…" Knuckles said breathily

"Ah! We meet again, my ivory friend. How are you?" said the Echidna "It's a good thing I showed up. I saved them at the last minute. It's a good thing I never told my brother were I was going. I had a feeling these two may needed my support so I followed them."

"It's you! The same guy from Empire City" said Silver. What shocked Silver the most is what saw in the Echidnas arms. it was the two hedgehogs that Fear was fighting. He looks at them but they weren't moving. The echidna sets them down on the ground. Silver looks closely at them. Silver sighs in relief as he sees that they are still alive. He doesn't get it but he feels as if he knows them from somewhere. Knuckles and Julie look at the echidna and could not believe their eyes. There was actually another echidna other than them. The echidna looks at the two and got up and stared in their eyes. The echidna looks at Julie deeply. "Incredible" he said He walks closer to Julie.

"Is there something you want with her?" Knuckles said stepping in front of Julie.

"Knuckles, be nice.." Julie said

"OH! I'm sorry. Please forgive my rudeness. Anyway, I'm happy to see you took my advice. I thought you would not show yourselves until night, but you being here is good enough."

"How would you know we don't show up during the day?" Knuckles asked

"Let's just say I have inside information."

"How can we trust you?" Blaze asked. That's when everyone heard grunting coming from one of the hedgehogs.

The echidna runs over to the amber hedgehog, and slowly lifts her head. "Mercury…Mercury… Are you alright? Come on. Wake up."

The amber hedgehog grunts some more and opens her eyes. She sees the white echidna smiling "Cap…tain…" she said

"Oh! Good! Thought I lost you for a second. I was a bit worried"

Mercury looks at the echidna. Her face turns red looking the other way. "You…were worried about me?"

"Of course I was"

She then lets out a light giggle. "I'm fine…you don't need to worry.

"Ain't this a sweet moment?" The two turn to see the other hedgehog smiling and giggling. "Oh don't let me stop you."

"Shut up!" Mercury quickly gets up and dusts herself off.

Zenith shakes his head and looks at the white echidna first. 'Oh…Captain…what happened here?"

"Zenith…you nearly got yourself killed. If I hadn't shown up…"

"meh-meh-meh-meh" Zenith babbled "Look, don't lecture me on stuff like this, alright? I had everything under…" Zenith looks at Silver directly.

"You're welcome.."

"Ah..half pint..You made it after all"

Knuckles and Blaze started giggling.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Silver asked "I just so happen to be 17!"

"Awww how sweet. Just like he was before, eh Merc?"

Mercury looks at Silver with wide eyes. "I..I don't believe it…" Mercury walks over and hugs Silver. Silver starts to blush a little. He looks at Blaze who looked kind of upset. Silver then pushes Mercury away.

"Just who are you?"

"OH! I'm so sorry!" Mercury was blushing

"Still haven't figured it out..have you small fry?" Zenith asked

"GRRR! NO! I've never met any of you at all!"

"Guys" the white echidna comes up. "As much as I love people reminiscing, I do have some business to discuss with our friends."

"What kind of business?" Knuckles asked "Just who are you?"

"OH! Heh! I guess I haven't told you who I am. Forgive me." The echidna clears his throat. "My name is Chrome. Chrome the echidna. Co-captain of the Dusk Raiders.

"Ok..Chrome. What business do you have with us?" Blaze asked.

"And how do you know so much about us?" Julie asked "What exactly do you want?

"You ask a lot of questions, missy" Zenith said

"I told you, you are obviously allies of justice. You hunt down evil people and you drain them dry until they are ash, do you not?"

"Yes" said Blaze and curious on how he knew that.

"Look buddy" Knuckles spoke. "If you're looking for an assassin we don't do that kind of stuff. We are here to-"

"You are here to devour the darkness in others" Chrome interrupted

"You know a lot about us. Same race or not, how _can_ we trust you now?" asked Julie.

"I apologize, I only say what's true, but I do have a small proposition that will satisfy us both.

"What kind of proposition?"

"Well you see…." Suddenly everyone heard an eerie beeping. "Excuse me a moment" Chrome places his finger on the right side of his head. "Yeah….uh-huh….alright then…we'll be right there." He turns back to look at the Cramoisi. "If you wish to know my proposal…then follow us." Chrome then gets out the disk like device that turns into a hovering wind sailor. Mercury and Zenith do the same thing only. There's where different. Zenith puts on a pair of shoes and Mercury gets on a hover bike. The three of them fly off away from the harbor.

"Hey wait!" Knuckles starts running after them.

"Knuckles hold on!" Julie said following. Cream also follows along. Blaze looks back at Sliver who still looks confused

"Are you ok?" She asked "We need to catch up with them.

"Yeah..Yeah. I want to get some answers" The two of them run after the others.

_**The sun and the moon meet**_

Sonic sees the orange echidna flying in the sky, " He moves pretty fast"

"Almost as fast as you." Amy said

"Heh! I highly doubt" Suddenly the three on the hover boards started hovering higher in the sky. Then all of a sudden there was a large burst of wind. Sonic and the others were blown away from the blast. When he looks back up in the sky, the echidna was gone. "Where did he go?"

"He's still in the air!" said Tails.

"Forget walking! Let's just fly" said Zoomer.

"Mmm Alright…let's just hope no one sees us." Sonic and the others jump start flying with their wings. "Now this is the way to travel!"

_**Meanwhile….**_

Shadow and the third party were walking on a trail, in the small thicket behind the city. Zeke and Ty were still ahead of them. The two of them see a castle-like building in front of them.

"How much further?" asked Shadow

"Grapple's stronghold is just over this hill" said Zeke.

"Good my feet are killing me" Tawny said

"You're already dead" said Saphron

"I'm still getting used to that"

As they were walking they then see a figure walk up to the hill. The figure turned out to be an indigo bat with long pink hair.

"Mother?" asked Rouge

"Excuse me?" said the bat. The bat was indigo (Darker purple than Darcy) that was wearing a white tank with Blue skirt and red shoes. She was wearing a necklace with an hourglass on it.

"Oh! I'm sorry I thought you were someone else"

"Have you seen a jet black hedgehog named Dwayne anywhere?" asked the bat

"I'm sorry I haven't" said Rouge

The bat looked down and walked past them. "Thanks anyway…" she said with a sad tone.

"Wait!" said Saphron "Is this person special to you? Maybe we can help you."

The bat turns around and tries to smile."Well I heard he might be in this city but I…"

Beep-Beep-Beep The gang hears a beeping sound coming from the bat. She presses a small device in her ear and then a little microphone comes out. "Yes?" There was chatter that was going on in the link "Yes everything is set, I ready when you are Captain. Huh? He is…? Really? Okay thank you!" She then hangs up.

"Eeeeee!" she shouted with joy. But she then covers her mouth and looks at the others and calms down. She gets out a disk like device and throws it down on the ground. Then she gets on the air ride type gear and flies off.

"What was that all about?" asked Tawny

"Don't know sis" said Saphron

"Let's keep going. I see the others" said Shadow.

The others look up and see Sonic and his group, fly down. "Hey Bro, I didn't know you were a part of a babysitting service" said Sonic.

"Shut up Faker!" said Shadow

"Well! Looks like you boys were telling the truth. How could I have ever doubted you?" said Tawny

"Your quite Welcome" said Zeke

"Oh great there's a whole team of you stink bags!" said Ty

Everyone looked at Ty with a deadly gleam.

"Uhhh….he didn't mean that! Honest!" Zeke tried to stand up for him. They both see Amy walk up.

"Umm Excuse me child, what did you just call us?" said Amy sweetly with her hands behind her back.

"What are you deaf too?"

"Ty, please!"

Amy was smiling with an anime mad mark on her head. Then she gets her hammer and whacks him clean across the field.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Ty screamed

"OOOHHH Nice going big sister!" said Tawny with a big grin.

"Nooo… Ty!" Zeke shouted "How could you?"

"Amy…we're supposed to take in children…not bonk them on the head!" Sonic said

"Sorry…" Amy said looking down.

"OW!" everyone heard a loud scream coming from the hear by building. The all ran over to a large castle like building. Everyone saw a large group of people. They all saw Ty get up with a large bump on his head. They all saw the orange echidna with a larger bump on his head.

"Oh my head…" Ty said

"OH my gosh! I' m so sorry!" said Amy "I didn't mean for him to hit you!"

"What kind of person throws a kid at me!" said the echidna. He gets up and brushes himself off. He then looks at the Cramoisi. He tilts his head in curiosity.

Sonic looks deeply in the echidna's garnet eyes. In one of the eye's irises, he could see little black cracks. Sonic then thinks back to his dream about the young echidna with the same cracked iris eye. He steps back when he looks at the echidna.

"Hey buddy..you ok?" he asked

"Oh..yeah…I'm fine" Sonic said snapping back to reality.

"BROTHER!" Everyone looks at the sky and sees Chrome flying with his gear along with the other Cramoisi. They landed right next to them. .

The echidna sees all of them in cloaks. All the Cramoisi look at the orange echidna with his tattoo. Sonic and Shadow give each other different looks asking "Is he the guy" Sonic was responding" Yes"

"_So he's the man responsible for what happened in Solianna He's The Solar Tremor" _Thought Shadow.

"Chrome, are you sure these people are willing to fight what's behind this door?" asked the orange echidna.

"Trust me Brother, these people are allies of justice, and are willing to help us with our cause."

As the echidna was talking with everyone, Knuckles walks up to Chrome. "He's your brother?"

"Yes, the head captain of the dusk raiders."

Jayden looks at the group and was in instant shock to see who was in the group. They saw the black werehog standing at the entrance with his arms crossed. (see chap. 2 for details)" Saphron..look over there!" he whispered

"It's the hedgehog we saw in the city" Saphron decaled

"Is he with this group of people as well?"

"So…cloak wearers?" The echidna walks up to the others. "How much of the cut do you want?

Sonic and Shadow look at each other before answering. "You said that this is the Criminal Underground Right? Home of the most notorious villains, right?" asked Sonic

"Yes sir I did!"

"Then we can worry about prophet later. I think we'll get all our payment just by fighting with you" said Shadow.

The echidna narrowed his eyes a bit but then smiled.

"Well then alright! Before we get started, Let me introduce myself." The echidna comes up to Sonic and places his hand on his shoulder. "You've probably heard of me" He jumps back next to Chrome. "The name's Richter. Richter the echidna; World class thief, at your service" He bows his head and then looks back up.

"You got to be kidding" said Rouge

"OH I kid you not my cloaked buddy bud. Me and my brother are well known around the world. Now enough chat-chat! Let's get a move on people!

Richter then summons a hammer out of thin air, came up to the door and broke it down all he saw was a flight of stairs going down. He walks down the flight, along with the large crew, Sonic and the others. Not too long they reached the bottom of the stare case where they saw a large door. Richter then calls two of his crew mates. One of them was a brown wolverine and the other one was a green metallic hedgehog. They both walk up to the door and start hitting it. The wolverine was using his large bear like claws to break down the door while the green hedgehog's green energy like arms were doing the same.

"Ty, Zeke, you two stay behind, when were done we will take you some place safe" said Rouge

"Yeah whatever" said Ty

"Yes Madame" said Zeke

Sonic huddles his friends, while the others were breaking the door.

"So what's the plan Sonic?" asked Amy

"We kill them all right?" Tawny said

"You have a one track mind, Tawny" said Blaze

"No…we'll just play long…there is something about this guy. Can't put my finger on it, but for now let's just fight for his team."

"Right!" said everyone. The two crew mates broke through the door. Richter looks back at the others. Alright! Let's go!" Richter jumps in the room first and all the other crew mates run inside.

_**The Shadow of Fear**_

Shadow was about to go in with the others, when he heard a voice.

"Shadow" it whispered.

Shadow looks and saw a Black figure. It started to giggle while looking at Shadow with its Ruby red eyes. Shadow gives a narrow look and walks to it, but then the figure starts to run.

"Shadow?" Rouge turns to him and looks where the figure stood. She knew what that meant.

"Rouge…look after the others."

"But Shadow…."

"I'll be fine. Now go. I'll join you as soon as I can."

Rouge wasn't sure of herself, but she gives Shadow a light nod and lets Shadow go.

Shadow then runs after it. As they ran up the stairs the figure disappears. When shadow was up the stairs he was outside again, he looks around and sees the black hedgehog. It was Fear staring right at Shadow with her red eyes. The two of them stare at each other for what seemed like hours, until Shadow broke the silence.

"Are you….Fear?" asked Shadow.

"Shadow, my dear Brother. We finally meet" she said

"Sister? I don't have a sister."

Fear touches her chest while stepping back "I'm hurt Shadow. You don't even remember me. Oh well, it's not like it matters anyway. You will soon feel the pain of those who died on the ARK by your hand."

Shadow quirked his eye brow at her out of confusion. "What are talking about?"

"It's as plain as day you became a monster and destroyed the people on the ARK. You're still a monster. You're a Cramoisi, a bloodthirsty killer. Now I'm going to make Maria's last wish to come true.

""Maria? How do you know her?"

"Enough Questions! You know exactly what you did to her, and now you are going to pay for what you've done!" Fear's hand starts to emit a shining red light. "CHAOS LANCE!

She fires a red spear like beam of energy at Shadow who dodges it. Shadow skids to the after the attack. "That's a high level move! It took me forever to master that."

"Oh really? Well thanks to my special friend, I was able to master it in a matter of hours." said Fear "Oh can you do this yet?" She then warps in front of Shadow and shoved her hand at his gut. Before Shadow knew it, a bolt of energy came from her hand. "Chaos Nightmare!"

As the bolt of energy surged through Shadow, he then started to scream in severe pain. "

_**The unveiling of the Navy Marcoat **_

"Aahhhh!" Rouge was screaming in pain.

"Rouge, what's wrong?" asked Sonic.

"Shadow! He's in pain!" (Recap: Couple Cramoisi can feel the pain of their lover)

"Can you still fight?"

"I can try" she said

"You damn echidna brothers!" a very large gray bear with a gladiator suit and large golden claw was sitting on a char looking right at Richter and Chrome. "Go bug someone else! I'm busy!"

"Aww that hurt Grapple. I thought we were old pals…What could be more important?" Richter asked.

Suddenly there came a gust of dark wind. Everyone turns and sees Sonic and the others still in their hoods. Sonic walks in front of the others looking directly at the bear. His eyes turn purple as he looks at Grapple. He sees grapples image through his night vision, and a web of black veins. He sees the same all around the room. His eyes become ruby-violet again and he cracks a small smile. "As black as coal. "

"You all will pay for your crimes" Amy said walking up.

"Hey bud? What's going on with ya? You got a cold or something?" Richter asked

"Could it be…?" Grapple asked stroking his chin.

Sonic and the others uncover their cloaks reveling their true forms. Everyone gasped and stepped back looking at their monstrous attire, all but Richter who just stares at them.

"So..these are the Cramoisi you were talking about?" Grapple asked

"Yes….indeed" Sonic then sees a man walk up wearing a brown and blue robe. "So..you are the ones who are the thorns on my masters side."

"Who are you?" Sonic asked

The man uncovers his hood. He looked like a brown coyote with bent ears a fang sticking out one mouth and blue eyes."I am Termonos the Briseur rocher." He said with a deep lisp. He uncovers himself. His body was very large and he was carrying a large tomahawk. "And here…is where I'm going to end the Cramoisi once and for all in the name of the Cobalt shroud.

_**(((((TBC)))))))**_

Well! Didn't expect this did you? HA HA! Yup there's a new serif in town and it's name is Navy Marcoat! The grand cardinals of the Cobalt Shroud. There are more to come. Find out what happens next time!

_**((((((Next Blue Dusk)))))**_

Julie: I had no idea there were more people out there like Prandor. This guy says he is a powerful shroud member and wants to do away with all of us. It doesn't seem like this Richter knows who he is though…he's too busy fighting that bear, Grapple. If this echidna is for real about fighting all of them he's even crazier then Knuckles. It's still a mystery if he is on our side or not

Next time: Spagoina rumble: The Navy Marcoat uncovered

Julie: Why is Richter all over Sonic like that?


	5. Spagonia Rumble: Navy Marcoat uncovered

Sonic looks at the hooded man. He smiles at Sonic with cocky grin. Richter and Chrome were looking at the two look at each other. "So, Sonic the hedgehog…you're vastly outnumbered. You have three criminal lords right present and blue agents. If you surrender I will personally asked my master to grant you mercy …"

_**Chapter 5**_

_**Spagonia Rumble; Navy Marcoat uncovered**_

"Dude…" Richter walks up to Termonos. "I'm sorry..but what is up with your voice? It sounds like a seven year old! *lisping* I will show you mercy. *normal voice* what's wrong with you got a messed up jaw or something? Termonos growls at Richter while a few other people giggle.

"You really don't know what to say in front of people, do you Richter?" the large gray bear Grapple asked. "Don't you see that those Cramoisi will kill us?"

"Cram…mo..ma…what's that?"

"No no no it's Cra-moi-si" Termonos corrected

"Cram-me-zi" Richter keeps trying to say

"Cram-moi-siii" Termonos corrected again

"What's that? Sounds yummy!"

Everyone stares at Richter in bewilderment. "Is this guy for real?" asked Sonic

"There's no way he a World Class Thief!" said Rouge.

"I can't believe this guy is an echidna" said Knuckles

"OH OH! I want a bear claw, with an apple fritter with cream filled…."

"Richter!" Chrome shouts at Richter from across the room and points to Sonic and the others. "You see those people over there?"

"Yeah?"

"Those are Cramoisi"

"AW! What? I can't eat..wait are they sweet? AH, who am I kidding! I can't eat them!"

"That's because _they_ are the ones who might eat _us_!" Grapple shouted

"Eat us?" Richter turns and looks at Sonic. Within a second he disappears and reappears in front of Sonic. "This guy?" Richter grabs Sonic's face and moves his hands feeling all around and stretching his cheeks

"Hey…stop that!" Sonic shouted

"Wow, your face is cold" Richter said carelessly. He then opens Sonic's mouth and looks inside. "Such sharp teeth!"

"Wha-arg-U-goging-do-ne? (what are you doing to me?) Sonic asked with his mouth open.

"Quiet! I'm concentrating!" Richter shouted looking into Sonic's eyes by pulling back the eye lids. "Like pools of jelly doughnuts"

"What is he doing?" asked Silver looking right at the two

"Is he on drugs or something?" said Blaze

"This is sad" said Cosmo

"He's embarrassing himself" said Tails

"I think he's funny!" giggled Cream

Rocky was just looking at him.

"That makes one of us" said Rouge

"Well, he ain't hurting him, but it is kind of weird" said Zoomer

"I thought he would be afraid of us" said Jayden

"I think it the other way around" said Saphron

"Don't let him come near me!" said Tawny

"WHOO! Man you smell! Where do you sleep? A dumpster?"

"I stink?" Sonic asked surprised

"You all pretty much do" "Told you!" said Ty from the back

Tawny and Amy gave Ty a death glare which made him go back and hide

"Stop it already!" Sonic shouted "You're freaking me out-Whoa!" Richter holds Sonic upside down by the heels.

"Do I spy a green stone on your knee?"

"Green what?"

"Put him down now!" Shouted Amy

"Ok ok…." Richter drops Sonic and walks back to the others. "Anyway….no way…am...i working with you people. All I want is your loot and for me to scoot, or I will give you the boot!"

"Enough of this tomfoolery" Termonos gets out a small dark seed and drops it. "Call your men ,Grapple"

Grapple whistles and in less than a second, multiple enemies show up everywhere. "So…Richter..are you going to fight with us…or against us?"

Richter looks at the Cramoisi and then at Grapple.

"Understand this, Richter. You and your brother are among the strongest of all criminal lords, and are strong enough to help us defeat the Cramoisi; join us and you will be handsomely rewarded."

Richter instantly reappears in front of Termonos like magic.

"How is he doing that?" Tails asked

"Is that…Chaos control?" Sonic asked

"Golly gee! That sounds keen…too bad..I don't care!" Richter said sticking his tongue out "Last time I'm going to say this so pay attention; We..are going to beat..you silly….take your treasure….and leave ….understand?"

"Hearty fool!" Grapple gets out a dark gem and eats it in one gulp.

"Grapple! Not now! Wait!" Grapple was changing into a large beast. His body and eyes turn purple and his muscles grew bigger and bigger along with his teeth. He startles everyone with a mighty roar. "You crazy fool"

"**Now is the time to drag you all to hell!" **Grapple shouted

From the seed that Termonos dropped, comes out a group of completely dark demon like creatures with black bodies, and red eyes shaped like "V's. Termonos grabs one of them and it slowly starts to change. It gets bigger. It starts to turn brown and grow large arms. It grows sharp teeth and a face with a symbol on it. It grows about ten feet staring at Sonic. 'Well Cramoisi….are you going to surrender now, or will you die along with these fools who dare appose us? Between Grapple, my monster, and myself, you are outnumbered…and out matched."

Sonic looks at the Raiders, as they pointed their weapons at their enemies and at the other Cramoisi. His friends look at him with a nod. Sonic looks back at the large monster. He holds his gauntlet and closes his eyes. His whole body starts to glow. In a minute he was wearing his azure knight armor; from his gauntlet came out the white stone given to him by Darcy. Suddenly the stone turns into a large white sword. He looks dead on at Termonos and in less then a second his sword clashed with his Tomahawk.

"Forget it!" Sonic said while pushing his sword harder pushing back.

"Looks like your Jema as chosen it's master" Sonic hears Richter talk. He was sounding more serious in his speech this time. "That's a powerful one by the looks of it. Be sure to treat it well"

"What? Jema? What are you…?"

"Stay sharp big boy, he's getting back up!"

Termonos cackles while getting up. "I was hoping you wouldn't come quietly. The other knights before you were as stubborn as ever. Golem! Agents! Attack the Cramoisi, and seize the dusk raiders.

"**Everyone! Attack! Crush them!"** Grapple shouted at his lackeys

"Oh no you don't!" Richter shouted. "YAHHHHHHH!" He jumps on the ground making it shake. Everyone was stumbling as the ground was shaking including the large golem. Richter then throws a hammer at the golem making it fall. "Rogues! Tip them overboard!"

The Raider's and Cramoisi charge after the enemies. Amy runs up to Sonic with her hammer facing Termonos. "Mmmmm…alright I'll make you guys pay for what you did to Prandor…"

((((((((((Cobalt Shroud Boss fight: Termonos and Dark Earth Golem)))))))))))))))

**Termonos: I will crush you all and grind your bones to dust beneath my feet! * Slams ground with Tomahawk. golem dives into his shadow ***

"Hey, Blue boy! Leave Grapple to me! You handle this cross bite nut-job!" Richter shouted to Sonic.

"Sonic, let's fight him together!" Amy said holding her hammer

"Wouldn't have it any other way" said Sonic

"How touching! I'll be sure to put a memorial mark on your graves once I finish you!"

Termonos jumps in the air swinging his tomahawk. Sonic disappears in a flash. Termonos looks around for Sonic. Sonic reappears behind him and swings his sword; but his attack was blocked by the golem that came out of Termonos' shadow. Sonic continues to try and hit Termonos but to no avail, his shadow golem was blocking every attack Sonic was throwing. "Give me a break!" The Golem grabs Sonic by the neck and slams him on the wall. The golem gets ready to attack sonic with its fist. Amy jumps at the fist and blocks the attack with her hammer. Amy was doing her best to block the attack, as small crater was formed on the floor under Amy, trying to block the attack. Sonic was able to squeeze free and swing his sword at the golem's arm and cuts it. The golem was thrown back and Amy swings her hammer at the golems face making him drop to the ground. Termonos looks at his fallen minion and runs over to attack Sonic. Sonic was blocking Termonos' constant attacks. Their weapons collide and both were trying to push each other with their weapons. Sonic gives one more push making Termonos loose balance. Sonic swings his sword right at his lower chest. Termonos walks back in pain, Sonic swings his sword again, but the attack was blocked by the golem. The golem looks at Sonic and swings hit arm pushing Sonic back to the wall.

"Why…you..!" Amy comes running at the golem and whacks him on the head. Termonos looks at Amy constantly attack the golem. Amy summons a second hammer and swings it to the ground; large boulders come up from the ground. Amy starts hovering in the sky while controlling the boulders. The Golem lifts its fist and tries to punch Amy. Amy sees the fist and blocks it with a boulder. The Golem uses his other hand to punch Amy, but in an instant his arm was cut off. Amy sees her chance and throws another boulder at the Golem's body. Termonos looks at the Golem in sheer anger. The Golem falls to the ground. Amy uses her hands to control the boulders and form a large spear. She throws her hand down and the spear impales the golem, making Termonos shout in pain. He looks at Sonic who was grinning at him.

"Impudent fool! I am of the Navy Marcoat! I will not be beaten by such a week little rat!" He yells in furry and from the ground came multiple rocks everywhere. All the rocks form around Termonos. He swings his Tomahawk at Sonic making the rocks fly at him. Sonic just smiles and starts jumping on all the rocks being thrown at him, ricocheting to one rock to the next, getting closer and closer to Termonos who was controlling them. When he was close enough, Sonic the swings his foot at Termonos' face. Sonic jumps to the ground facing Termonos and jabs his sword through Termonos' chest. Termonos looks at Sonic's face his eyes were wide as he was staring in the eyes of the person who bested him.

"I've….lost..?"

"Sorry…but no one messes with my friends without answering to me" Sonic said smiling. He pulls his sword from Termonos' chest. Termonos falls to the ground on his back with his eyes still open.

_**((((Navy Marcoat Boss defeated))))))))))))**_

**Sonic: HA! Was that all you had?**

**Amy; he wasn't very smart was he?"**

_**Fight for your life Cramoisi**_

Many thugs and blue agents came over to Cramoisi ready to fight. Rouge looks at Cosmo and gives her a certain look. "You know what to do right?"

"Right!" Cosmo places her hands on the ground. Tails' hands catch on fire and he looks at the thugs coming his way. He speeds of spinning his tails and makes a large fire tornado. The tornado blazes through the thugs and they all catch on fire. They were then pulled by a mysterious force. Silver pulls them all into a large pile. Large leaves form around the large group. Cosmo gets up controlling the leaves with her hands. The leaves close up forming a large flower bud. "I don't want to do this…but frankly..you brought this on yourself. HA!" She lifts her hands and from the top of the bud came out a large red and purple ball, glowing a bright light. The light comes down at Silver. Silver gets out a black container with diamond rhinestones and the opens it. The ball of light flies into the container and Sliver closes it up.

"Wow…it's a lot less messy to do it this way then draining them directly" said Silver

"Uhh guys?" Tails tried to get their attention. The four saw the thugs trying to get away.

"Oh no you don't!" the others chase after them

Rocky and Cream were teaming up beating bots and thugs Seeing thugs come her way, Cream lifts her hands as they light up and she throws light balls at the thugs. The balls attach to the thugs and start to glow bright red; and then fall to the ground and turn to ash, and the balls of red light come over to Cream and she places them in another black container. "Sorry….but you were mean to people"

Rocky was fighting off robots trying to get to Cream, punching them. He then picks one up and swings it by the leg destroying the bots around him and throws the bot he was spinning at a wall and it explodes. He looks at the destroyed robots and smiles. "I never get tired of that." He looks behind him and sees thugs running at him with weapons. They all jump at Rocky, but then little light balls attach to their necks. The thugs kneel down in pain and then turn to ash. And the balls of light come back to Cream in a black container. "Thanks Cream!"

"Anytime!" Cream said smiling

Saphron, and Tawny were taking down foes with their strength. Tawny was up against five thugs. She smiles and disappears. The thugs look for her and then suddenly one of them was stabbed in the chest by her claw. After the thug drops she licks the blood from her fingers and looks at the other four. "You men are all the same, attacking women like they are your own toys!" There was a large flash and Tawny was standing behind the thugs. They turn around and see Tawny walking behind them. All of a sudden their sides start oozing blood. All of them dropped on the ground, not moving. Tawny looks back and smiles.

Saphron was throwing seeds at the fallen thugs. From the seeds came balls of light that turned from white to red. The balls of light fly up and into another container that Saphron was holding. "Nice going sis!"

You're welcome" Tawny said bowing (By the way that wasn't sarcasm; she was really thanking her)

Jayden was doing the same thing overcoming his fear of conflict. A thug tries to whack him with a stick but Jayden senses it and stops it. "Oh! You want play baseball? I love Baseball! And look, I found the perfect bat!"Jayden picks up the thug by the legs and uses him to whack the enemies around him. *Whack!* "Strike one! *Crack!* Strike two! *Smack* Strike Three! He grabs the thug he was using as a bat. "Looks like you're….out!" he said as he bit his neck

"Sister look, our brother is playing ball! I want to join him!" said Tawny

"Oh! I want to play to!"

Rouge was fighting off some of the blue agents, by kicking them to the ground and draining their blood. She was doing to best she could to fight them off but was still over run. Chrome sees Rouge struggling and jumps in Chrome's hands glow blue, and all the agents Rouge was fighting fell to the ground. Chrome pushes his hands up, and the agents rise from the ground. Rouge sees her chance and attacks the agents suspended in the air. She kicks then in the backs of their head, and one by one they all fall to the ground. Rouge looks at Chrome who was looking at her. "Why are you helping us?"

"You're welcome" Chrome said politely "You Cramoisi certainly have a way of thanking others"[

"Honey, I've been rejected by many of people who play the politeness card."

"That would explain your charming personality. Still my mother has taught me to help a lady if she is in trouble. I am simply relating to how I have been raised."

"Well good for you..but that doesn't tell me of what you are really planning."

"My my, someone is anxious"

"Yeah well, it's my job as an older sibling to protect my brothers and sisters."

A Blue agent comes from behind Chrome. Chrome turns around and stabs him dead on. The agent falls to the ground and Chrome looks back to Rouge. "Such actuations and suspicious thinking is how my brother and I survive in the mafia. Never lose your moxie or the notion of someone stabbing you in the back, it may keep you alive."

"What do you mean by-AHH!" Rouge was feeling some unknown pain and falls to the ground. "S-Shadow..he's…in pain.."

"Hey are you alright?" Chrome comes up to her and guards her form upcoming enemies.

(((((Rival fight: Fear the hedgehog))))))))

_**Fear: I'll make you pay for what you've done to our family!**_

Shadow was thrown back into a tree by an energy blast. "I thought Sonic was a terrible listener" Shadow said nearly out of breath slowly trying to get up.

"Come on! Is that all? You're supposed to be an ultimate life form." said Fear Shadow growls and puts his hand over his head then snaps his fingers. Suddenly, a ball of energy comes out of nowhere in front of Fear and shoot her into a nearby tree. "Better, you used Chaos Magic. So what?"

Fear then throws a red spear of energy at Shadow who dodges it while jumping in the air and doing a homing attack. Fear stops him dead in his tracks while in ball form, and then slams him on the ground.

"A Homing attack? Really?" Fear looks at him smiling at her small victory

"GRRRRR" Shadow runs at her and starts punching her, but she was matching him blow for blow.

"CHAOS FLASH!" A bright light comes from Fear's hand and blinds Shadow. Fear then comes charging at him punching him in the gut, making Shadow fall to the ground.

"This is just sad, Shadow. You call yourself an ultimate?"

Shadow then disappears in a flash of light, and then reappears behind Fear and kicks her in the back and into the sky. Shadow flies at her and kicks her again. "Crimson.. Chaos…LANCE!" A bloody red giant lance comes at Fear and she barely missed it. It was bigger than her lance was.

"So, you being a monster has made you stronger. But not stronger than me!"

She charges at Shadow. Her hand emits a purple light getting ready for another Chaos Nightmare, but Shadow caught her and threw her to the ground. "OK, so you're my sister, but why are you attacking me?"

"Like you don't know, murderer! You teamed up with Black doom and killed everyone on the ARK, including Maria!"

Shadow quirks his eyebrow. "What are you talking about? Black Doom is dead. And I never teamed up with him."

"Oh yeah, do you remember Commander Tower? He was a on board when it happened you came out of your tube and destroyed the Prototype ultimate life form and murdered very one else_ with_ black doom's help!

"What?" Shadow was shocked to hear, her say that. The commander and he had their differences in ideas, but Shadow would never think he would say such lies about him. "He's lying!"

"He told me everything! Now you are going to pay for what you've done to her.

"Prototype? Wait!"

Fear was already disappeared in a flash, then reappears right in front of Shadow. "EBONY CHAOS PULSE!" A black ball of energy comes in front of Shadow and gives him a jolt of black and purple energy.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! "Shouted shadow, as he fell to the ground. He tries his best to keep his eyes open, but they were slowly wincing. The last thing he saw was Fear slowly walking up to him, before becoming unconscious.

Fear walks up to Shadow, and kneels down. "Why…why would you do it? She did nothing, and you killed her? Get up Shadow! Get up and tell me why you did it!"

Out of nowhere there was a dark blue light coming from behind Fear. Klaus comes out of the light. Fear then notices Klaus as he was clapping his hands slowly. "Bravo, Bravo Ms. Fear, you truly have proven that you are indeed the sibling of the ultimate life form." He said

Fear looks at Klaus and then back at Shadow. "Why…why didn't he attack me full force? It was…like he was holding back."

Klaus pulls out his sword "Now my dear" Klaus hands over his sword to Fear. "Finish him off and he will burn in hell long with the monster he assisted."Fear takes the sword and looks at Shadow. She lifts it up at his chest ready to strike. She was hesitant about striking her own brother. She closes her eyes and puts down the sword. Klaus stares at Fear, confused. "What are you waiting for…Finish him."

"No."

"What?"

"Not yet…not until I get my answers."

_**Escaping the Palace**_

Rouge was also feeling the same effects as Shadow was. She was struggling to stay alert and eventually succumbs to unconsciousness

Chrome looks back at Rouge who wasn't moving."Oh, man!" said Chrome as a blue agent comes over and tries to kill her.

"Here I come, Bat-girl!" said Knuckles as he swoops in and punched the man and bit his neck.

"Looks like you can use some help. Chrome was it?" said Julie holding her blaster.

"Yes, and thank you. " said Chrome

"I was wrong to miss judge you back there. You're a pretty good fighter" Knuckles said. "You and your brother"

"Years of practice and experience"

The Golem's body turns black and melts into a large shadowy blob. Sonic and Amy walk up to Termonos. Tails was finishing off a lackey when he sees Sonic looking over the defeated agent. "Alright! I knew he could do it!"

"Way to go Sonic!" shouted Knuckles

Richter walks over to Sonic, away from Grapple who was on the ground. "Alright blue boy! Well..I got the goods…" Richter shows him a green cube. "So what do you say we wrap this up and I'll treat us all to Spagonian pasta with pasta pie for desert!"

Sonic looks at Richter curiously. "What kind of dark heart is this guy?"

Behind Richter, Grapple was struggling to get up. He gets out a small device and presses a button; from the bottom of the floor came a large blue and gray stone. Sonic looks at the stone and falls to the ground. "Oh..no."

"Hey buddy, you alright?" Richter asked Sonic who was keeling down with Amy.

All the other Cramoisi were glowing blue and falling to the ground.

"Uuuuuuuu My body!" said Zoomer

"Knuckles, I feel week…:" said Julie.

"*grunt* my body!" said Knuckles

"Knuckles…Julie?" Chrome looks at them curiously

"Ahhh! It hurts!" said Tawny

"It's like what happened before" said Saphron.

"Ohh my head" said Jayden

"I can't fight!" said Rocky

"Help me" said Cream

"Was it something I ate?" asked Cosmo

"No, it's like what happened in Soleanna" said Tails.

"I feel sick" said Silver

"I'm so tired" said Blaze

"Sonic! I can't move!" said Amy

"It's nth….metal!" said Sonic

Richter and the Rogues looked at all the others suffer.

"Why are they kneeling down."

"It's Nith metal..boy" Richter turns and sees Termonos getting up with one eye shut and holding his arm. "The one weakness known to the Cramoisi, and now to finish them off."

"Richter! The stone! Get rid of the stone!" Chrome shouted. Richter runs over to the stone.

"Not today you don't. Grapple! More power!"

Grapple gets off from the ground. His hand emits a purple aura. He then slams his fist on the stone, and it unleashes a bright light. Sonic and the others feel the light. It was like walking on the surface of the sun. Sonic could feel the intense pain all over his body. He and the others lay on the ground screaming in sheer agony. Termonos slowly limps over to the back door. "So long…Cramoisi.." The ray of light stops; all of the Cramoisi were now lying on the ground unconscious. Sonic was the only one with his eyes barley open, the last thing he saw was Richter walking up to him.

After that everything goes black.

_**Fear's temptation; an unfamiliar face.**_

Klaus narrowed his eyes in frustration. "What do you mean you are not done with him yet? He his helpless now, he is on the ground, ready for you to finish him off. Now do what you must and kill him"

"I said, no" Fear repeated

"Woman! I gave you an order! _Do it!"_ Klaus shouted

"I already told you, I'm not your little lap dog!" said Fear

"Then I will do it myself!" he holds his hand out, and his sword came back from Fear's hand. "it's so hard to find good help these days"

Klaus walks up to Shadow and got ready to strike.

"Don't touch him!" Fear walks in front of Shadow to block Klaus' way. 'I still want to know why he did it"

"I already told you why! Now get out the way!"

"If what you said was true, then why didn't he recognize me? Why did he hold back when he was attacking? I need to know these things.

"You foolish little girl!" said Klaus. "Others will suffer the same fate as your friend did."

Fear looks directly at Klaus face to face. "He's my brother, my responsibly. I won't let you kill him. "

"You are foolish to challenge me!" Klaus points his sword at Fear. "I have lived far beyond almost any living thing on the planet!"

"Big flipping Deal!" Fear said getting into a fighting pose. "'I've fought bigger things than you"

Then a dark blue shadow appears right in front of them then a figure came out of the shadows it was a figure dressed in a red cloak and red raps covering his face but not his eyes or mouth and one long ear sticking out. He looks at Fear who was looking confused. "Fear, do not harm Shadow anymore. This man speaks nonsense. Shadow is but a mere ally of justice." said the man.

Fear looks at the man in question and tilts her head. "What are you talking about? And how do you know me and my brother?"

"All will be explained to you soon. You have to go now." He snaps his fingers and then a black circle appeared under Fear, and then a black aura surrounded her.

"Wha..what are you doing?" Fear shouted as the dark was engulfing her

"Understand, Fear. Understand the truth behind the radiant dark. Don't fall into the same mistake as others. Go! Get the answers you seek!"

"What do you mean by-" before she could finish the circle had already vanished along with her.

Klaus looks at the circle and was shocked at what he saw. "That technique! Who are you? You dare defile the laws of the council?"

The man looks at Klaus with honest eyes. "I am someone who has been spared of this dreadful sin. You should be going now. If you kill Shadow now, the link to unlocking your past will be forever lost. " with that he disappeared in the shadows.

"Damn you!" Klaus stands there seething "Who was that man? He had our abilities. There is no way he could be Zerach! No, it couldn't be…his aura was too vague. I can't tell who that was." He then looks at Shadow. "I should kill him now, but…"

"_If you kill him now your link to unlocking your past will be forever lost."_

Klaus stands there sulking in rage. "What does he mean?" Klaus hears a sudden beep come from a communicator. He picks it up and places it to his ear.

"Master Klaus, your audience is needed at a meeting with the head of the Criminal underground."

Klaus sighs and answers. "Very well..I will be right there" Klaus looks back at Shadow and, then he starts do disappear in the shadows. "You were lucky Cramoisi…I will find out more about this mystery man…and after I do…I'll make sure your ash lies beneath my feet!" Those were his last words before disappearing into the Shadows.

_**The legend of Solairte**_

Sonic…Sonic….

Sonic hears a voice in his head, but doesn't see anything. He opens his eyes and sees a bright purple and orange sky. He slowly gets up and looks around. He looks on the ground and sees that he was in the middle of a field. "Where….where am i?"

"Ah you are awake!" Sonic hears the voice and looks around. He sees a bench in the middle of the field. A girl was sitting in the bench. She looked like an echidna with gold hair, a white tank top and a white, blue and green skirt. She looks at Sonic with a smile. "Long time no see, Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Wait…" Sonic walks up to the girl. "I know you..you're…Tikal aren't you?"

"You guessed Right!" the girl said smiling. "It's good to see you Sonic. Tikal looks at Sonic in question. "You've…changed a lot the last time I say you."

Sonic looks at his wings and feels his teeth. "Yeah..I've had quite an adventure the last half year. So..uhh what are you doing here?"

"Oh" Tikal gets up and looks directly at Sonic. "I have a very important message to tell you, Sonic. It's about your visions."

"My visions? You mean my dreams?"

"Yes. Do you know of a man named, Solairte? (Sol-air-it) "

"Uhmmm…no…should I know him?"

"Long ago…he was known as a guardian of chaos. He bears the one thing that can link to the end of the world."

"Whoa…sounds bad" Sonic said sarcastically

"Joke all you want. Solairte's power is one that is greater mine and Chaos together."

"So..is he like a bad guy?" Sonic asked

"Not necessarily, it because he is alive he prevents the destruction of the world. He was my closest friend and he is the protector of ultimate Chaos.

"So..what does he have to do with me? And what does that have to do with…" Sonic thinks back to the dreams he had about the father echidna and the small one.

"You are confused? Well let me explain; Solairte died 4000 years ago, but his descendants are walking around in your time, and still doing their duty to protect the world form ultimate chaos. "You must find him and make sure the he doesn't fall to the dark.

Sonic steps back with a gasp. "W-What? What do you mean I have to find him? I've already got other problems. Like finding the light. ..and…wait…where is…"

"Oh" Tikal giggles with her eyes closed. "I am merely in your dreams. You are unconscious in real life."

"Do you know what happened to me and the others?"

"All I saw was you being rushed out of a large building I couldn't see who it was that was carrying you through"

'Oh…" Sonic sighs in relief. "Ok now tell me…how do I find..this Solairte?"

"With each passing day" Tikal started. "The Sun and moon meet, once at dawn, and once at dusk. The sun burns and is bright all day, while the moon is calm, cool during night. The sun and the moon do not see eye to eye, but at the same time share and love with each other. When you find them you must tame the wild sun. When you do you, he will lead you to the light, but you must bring it out of the dark. The moon will bring light to those in the dark, but at the same time you will help him stay away from the dark."

Sonic's expression was beyond comprehension. "Dare I ask what does that all mean?" Tikal slowly starts to disappear. "Hey wait!" Sonic reaches out his hand.

"Solairte is the sun and moon. Find the sun and moon…you will find Solairte" With those words she was gone. Sonic looks around with no avail.

'Come back…*sigh* I hate it when she does that"

'Farewell Sonic…I will see you again when the time is right"

Sonic's vision starts to go white.

_**A Lifesaver?**_

_Hey…._

Sonic hears a voice…but this one was different…

_Hey…buddy…you alright?_

"Uhhh….who…who's there?" Sonic said

_Dude….focus dude…..dude…_

"Uhhh….Amy….Tails…wha…"

_For the love of cake…bro…wake up!"_

Sonic slowly opens his eyes. The first thing he saw was the set of eyes. "Moring sleeping beauty!"

"WHOA! Sonic scoots back after a loud voice shocks him. "What the heck!"

"AH! He lives!" Sonic sees the orange echidna get up and walk up to him.

"Whoa..keep your distance!" Sonic still remembers when the echidna was "Looking" at him up close

'Is that anyway to thank me? After I help you and your pals"

"What?" Sonic looks around the area. It looked like he was in a large field. It was lush and grassy he sees all his friends sitting in different areas of the large field he also sees Amy laying right next to him, unconscious. Sonic closes his eyes. All of the Cramoisi can hear Sonic in their sleep. The voice was very soft but loud enough to hear. The only people who were around other than them was the echidna and the crew mates. All of them slowly open their eyes.

Tails wakes up and sees that he was sitting next to Cosmo in a flower patch. Staring at them, was a pink hedgehog with bangs over one of her eyes. The other was a green hedgehog with metallic arms and legs and eyes with black sacra (the white part of your eyes). Tails also sees a dark gray fox with a cape tied to his waist and black pants. He walks over and kneels down at Tails. Tails stares deep in his eyes, they were ruby red with black eye liner. The fox looks at Tails' twin tails.

"Are you Ok?" asked the fox

Tails was hesitant to answer. He looks at Cosmo who was laying next to him peacefully. He turns over back to the fox and nods.

Knuckles and Julie were laying near a small group of trees. They see a brown wolverine wearing gray pants, gray shoes and a red scarf.

"My word" said the wolverine in a deep but polite sounding voice. "Good to see you're alright"

"Uhhh…thanks" Knuckles said nervously.

Rouge slowly wakes up near the same trees as Knuckles and Julie. She looks around and sees the two boys Zeke and Ty standing under a black figure. Rouge was surprised to see it was Shadow slowly waking up his eyes. She runs over and hugs him. Shadow was still surprised but hugs her back.

"What? Did you think I was dead?" Shadow asked

"Not really…it's just that..I was…" Rouge couldn't finish her sentence.

"Isn't that wonderful, Ty?" Zeke asked

"I guess…If you like vampires.." Ty said rudely

Zeke looks back at Tawny who was lying next to Jayden and Saphron. He gets up and walks up to her. He felt this strange feeling in his chest. Tawny looked so peaceful lying on the patchy grass. It had Zeke bewitched.

"Yo…Zeke!" Zeke snaps back to reality and looks at Ty. " Are you….falling for her?"

"What?" Zeke said with surprise in his tone. "That's the craziest…how could you even..I mean…well I uhhh…"

"EHCH! Barf-a-roni with cheese! She smells awful!" Ty said

Sliver and Blaze were lying next to a large stone structure. Sliver opens his eyes and sees the amber hedgehog; Mercury kneeling down next to him. She smiles seeing Silvers face.

"Thanks God you are ok!" she said hugging him

"Huh? Hey..what's the big idea?" Silver asked confused

"Oh..you still don't remember?"

"Nope" said the yellow hedgehog Zentih "He's a forgetful one, isn't he?"

Sliver glares at Zenith. Blaze couldn't help but laugh.

The three humans woke up and saw Rocky and Cream still asleep. Tawny gets up and stretches and yawns looking around. They were near a stone bridge. Saphron gets up and sees tawny looking at her. Tawny smiles as she sees Jayden get up. She then turns and sees Zeke. Zeke felt a little nervous looking at Tawny, and looks away.

"Look, big brother's over there" Saphron said walking the center of the field. Jayden gets up and follows her. Tawny walks past Zeke with a light wave. Zeke looks at her and blushes, and looks the other way.

Everyone meets Sonic and Richter at the center of the field. "Just..who are you?" Sonic asked again. "Why did you save us?

"Well that's a fine howdy-do. How about a little more gratitude."

"AHHH!" Tawny screamed looking at Richter. "It's the fagot from before! Shoo, Shoo! Go away faggot get away!"

Richter's right eye twitched. "W-ha…well! That is by far so disrespectful….. after everything I did!"

"Whatever, gay guy! Keep away from us!"

"Tawny that's enough" Shadow said.

"But.." Shadow gives a dark glare to Tawny, and she backs away. "Yes, big brother…"

"Anywho" Richter said clearing his throat. "Welcome…Crambozin was it. Welcome to the terra sunset!"

"The what?" Tails asked

"Wait a minute! Didn't that bear Grapple say that you were a criminal lord?" Blasé asked

"Well I uhhh.."

"Hey! That's right!" Silver said "You're one of the troublemakers that we've been looking for!"

"Hey now! That much is true… my bro and I are a few of the strongest among many other lords."

"Then that explains it!" Silver thrust his hand forward and pushes Richter to the ground. All the crew members gasp as they saw their captain on the ground.

"HEY! What's the big idea?" Richter looks up and sees Rocky and Cream sleeping together. "What in the.." Richter gets up from the ground, and slowly walks over to, Rocky.

"He's going to get Rocky!" Shouted Sliver

"Get him!" Tawny shouted

"Now, wait a minute!" Sonic tries to stop the others but to no avail.

Tawny runs at Richter. "Don't you dare touch him!" She jumps in the air and tries to land a blow on him. Richter slowly turns and sees Tawny. Just before her attack lands, Richter slides to the left making Tawny miss. "What?" Everything was going slow, Richter sees Tawny dive head first into the ground. She quickly gets back up and tires to punch Richter, but Richter blocks it with his hand, like it was nothing. Everyone was shocked to see how he could have managed to match up to Cramoisi's speed. Tawny punches him again, but Richter blocks again. She attacks again, but that attack was blocked. Tawny was furious. She continues to punch Richter, but each of her attacks were blocked. Tawny stops for a minute to take a break. She was painting roughly looking at Richter who was smiling.

"You look tired. Take a breather' He closes his eyes and lifts his hand . Tawny feels something all around her body. She gasped as she saw a large pile of dirt around her. She was struggling trying to break free but to no avail. Richter then walks up to the mound and places his hand on it looking at Tawny. "You know...hotheads like you, are just begging for trouble." Tawny just glares at Richter while growling. He was then pushed by some mysterious force. Richter looks up and sees Sliver with Blaze Tails and Cosmo.

Cosmo looks at Richter and uses her vines to wrap him up. "There's no escape"

"Are you sure, my sweet?" Richter opens his mouth chomps on the plant. Cosmo feels a sudden sharp pain in her arm. She shouts in pain holding her arm making her loose concentration freeing Richter. Richter lifts his hands to make another mound of dirt wrap around Cosmo. Richter walks up to Cosmo. He leans over and smells the dark purple flowers in her hair.

(note; She has dark purple in her Cramoisi state)

"Your flowers smell nice. Never seen anything like-OFFFF" Richter was hit by two fire balls. Tails' back was lit up with five of his fire tails. Blaze looks at Richter with her hand on fire. "Are all of you people like this? "Richter dodges all the fire balls they were throwing. He then makes more mounds cover Blaze and Tails, just before they throw another ball of fire. "Fire uses….tch….not much use against an earth user like me."

"let her go!" Sliver uses his power to grab Richter. Richter was trapped and could not move. "Let her go now!"

"You know…I would…if you weren't using your hocus-pocus on me?" Richter explained

"Oh!" Sliver releases his grip on Richter.

"Oh thanks! Now." Richter makes another dirt mound that wraps around Sliver. Sliver could not believe what just happened. "Not the brightest bulb in the box are ya?"

"Hey, no fair!" Sliver shouted

"Ohh..such a little kid" Blaze sighed

Richter slowly walks up to the mound that the other Cramoisi were trapped in. "Looks like I need to teach you youngness some manners." As he was about five feet away from them Sonic steps in and blocks Richter from moving any further.

"Let them go…now.."

"My..my, looks like someone has seen enough…" Richter moves the sword downward while moving up to Sonic. "This little butter knife won't save you, or be much of use to you since I was the one who pulled you out, and there ain't no telling if the rest of the underground will be as easy to take down as Grapple was." Richter summons his large hammer looking at Sonic. "Let me ask you something….you may look scary, but at the same time you like a nice guy. Do you want to see boneheads like Grapple to take a hold on this world?"

Sonic slowly lowers his blade. Everyone looks at bewilderment looking at Richter twill his hammer around talking to Sonic. "Of course not, do you know who I am?"

"Not really" Everyone in the room did an anime fall.

"Are you serious! I'm the world's fastest thing live!"

"Doesn't ring a bell" Richter said carelessly. "But…" He stares at Sonic with a stern face. "If you are serious about what you said…why don't we see how strong you really are? If you win, I'll let your friends go."

"And if you win" Sonic asked quirking his brow.

"Well…" Richter gets in a stance looking at sonic. "Let's worry about that later. At this moment I'll say this…..I will do whatever it takes to look after those I care about. "

((((((((((Rival fight; Richter the Echidna)))))))))))

_**Richter walks up cracking his knuckles and makes a fighting stance. " Guess harsh words aren't enough to solve problems." **_

"Take him down big bro!" Shouted Tawny

Richter jumps back and closes his eyes; then ten hammers appeared around him, he looks at Sonic with a side smirk. "Time to teach you some manners, blue boy! Sonic jumps in the air and swings his sword at Richter, but his attack was blocked by one of the surrounding hammers. "Oh please…..you may as well give up if you're going to try attacking me directly. You know I may look like a funny-bunny dude…." Richter moves his hands like a puppet master and pushes his hand forward aiming his hammers at Sonic and throwing them at him. The hammers throw Sonic back and on the ground. When he looks up he sees Richter on a hovering rock above him. "But I'm the most powerful earth user you'll ever see."

"Big talk.." Sonic jumps in the air swinging his sword. It was blocked by another hammer. He swings his sword closer to Richter but was once again blocked. Sonic attacks one more time, when he sees an opening, but his attack was blocked by a hammer Richter was actually holding. The two of them swing their weapons at each other continuously until Sonic sees another opening and swings his sword at Richter's side. leaving a small cut. The attack was small but it was powerful enough to send Richter flying back. "But know that I'm faster than the speed of sound!"

"Uhhhhh! Richter was thrown back but still holding on to his rock. Richter gets back up with his hammers still hovering around him. Sonic jumps back in the air and swings his sword. Richter sees him and smiles. Sonic was suddenly blocked by a large rock. "Surprise!" Richter comes smashing out of the rock and punches Sonic in the face. Sonic was blown back into a tree; he looks at Richter who hovers closer to him on his rock. "Well..do you have any more surprises for me? Before Richter knew it, Sonic was right in front of Richter swinging his sword . Richter blocks every attack but was pushed back with every blow. Sonic uses his wings to stir up the wind, and points his sword at Richter. The wind around Sonic starts to blow around his sword. He swings his sword at Richter, who tries to hold on but it was no use. He was blown off his Rock. Sonic swings his sword at Richter while he was open for an attack. "GAH!" Richter was thrown on the ground. Richter gets back up growling in furry. A large tornado of Rocks form around him. "Give it all you got!"

"No problem!" Sonic disappears and reappears in front of Richter. Richter was too shocked to respond. Sonic was punching him with as many times as possible. Richter then disappears and reappears behind sonic and attacks him back. As Sonic was disappearing and attacking Richter, Richter was doing the same. Both of them were moving too fast for anyone to see.

"What?" Knuckles looks at the battle. "How is he going so fast?"

Shadow tries to look around trying to find them. "He's using chaos control?"

" You're pretty fast!" Sonic said

"Yeah so are you!" Richter said back. Both keep warping and attacking each others.

"But know this.." Sonic grabs Richter by the wrist and throws him up in the air. "No one is faster than me." Sonic does a spin dash in the air and hits Richter dead in the gut. He flies higher in the air and throws a kick on Richter's back throwing him down on the ground leaving a large crater.

"I….lost?" Richter said strained "..unbelievable.."

((((Rival boss: defeated))))))

_**Sonic throws his sword in the air and it turns back into a stone and holds his gauntlet in the air facing down. The stone falls and clamps back on to Sonic's gauntlet. "Do you know who you're dealing with?" **_

Sonic walks up to Richter who was still lying on the ground. Richter looks up at Sonic's face. Sonic kneels down and gives Richter a small smirk. "Now..let's try this again; how about letting go of my younger sibs?" Richter looks around and adjusts himself so he was sitting with his legs crossed. He snaps his fingers and all the mounds surrounding his friends sank into the ground.

"Captain…lost?" Mercury asked amazed.

"Looks like this taste of victory had a little too much…KICK!" Zenith said laughing hard. "Got to remember that one"

"HA HA! Nice work big brother!" Tawny walks up to Richter and grabs him by his shirt and lifts him up. "What should we do with him now? Darin him, beat him up, drain him, lynch him and drain, stretch his limbs until he cries or they come off, or drain him?"

"You said drain me four times?" Richter said

"And maybe we should staple his mouth while we are at it"

"So you want to kill me? Ok…fine." *small violin playing* "Just kill me…get it over with. I'm tired of this cruel, cruel world! Just rip me of my mortal coil right now! Just please…don't kill my ship mates. They didn't do anything, just take me!

"You…you would lay your life down..for your crew mates?" Cosmo asked looking at Richter.

"No…they are more than my ship mates, they are my friends. Just take me…don't kill them…

Cosmo looks at Tails and back at Sonic. "Should we…"

"If you are going to kill me, just kill me now!" Richter said dramatically " And make it quick I have a low threshold for pain!"

"Alright!" Tawny said without hesitation opening her mouth.

"WAIAAAT!" Everyone looks to the left and sees Rocky with Cream. The two of them slowly walk up to the others. "I'm sorry…but please wait."

"Go away little boy! Shield your eyes! This beast is going to eat me and I don't want you to be scarred for life!"

"Bea..? What did you call me?" Tawny growled

"Please wait!" Rocky grabs on to Tawny's shirt.

Richter looks at Rocky directly. His eyes widen as if he'd seen a ghost. "It…it can't be…."

"What are you babbling about?" Tawny asked.

Richter looks back at Tawny with a serious face. Tawny was a bit confused when he was looking at him. His attitude changed in second. "Please..before you finish me, could I get a good look at him? Think of it a last request."

Tawny looks at Sonic. Sonic gives him a nod, and then she lets go of him. Richter walks up closer to Rocky and squints his eyes. "What's your name?"

Rocky was little nervous before answering. "Everything Ok?" Cream asked.

Rocky walks up closer to Richter. "R-Rocky road"

Richter steps back when he heard him. He then gets out a small bronze emblem that looks like half of a sun and shows it to Rocky. "Do…do you…have a small little sun emblem, like this? Richter asked. Rocky gasped as he stares at the emblem. He reaches into his pocket and gets out the bronze emblem he had. It too was broken in half. "I…I don't believe it " Richter is in a black space and sees a smaller version of Rocky standing in front of him. He had tears in his eyes holding a small little emblem of a sun. The smaller rocky starts running toward Richter with his tears leavening his face but never got any closer. He then trips on the ground crying his eyes out. Richter also had tears in his eyes. He walks up to the little boy and helps him up. He gets out the same emblem and shows it to Rocky. Rocky shows him the emblem and they both put them together joining into one sun.

Richter was kneeling down with his eyes closed. He opens them to see Rocky's eyes looking up to his. He looks down and sees the same sun emblem. Everyone came up to the two looking confused. "Rocky….Rocky Road…..is it really you?"

"Rocky..what's going on?" Cream asked

Rocky looks back at Cream with a smile tears in his eyes. "Cream…..I found him…"

"Found who?"

Rocky points to Richter. "I found my big brother"

"HUH?" Everyone gasped

(((((((TBC)))))))))

OH BOY! Looks like things are getting crazy for your heroes. What will happen next time? Is it true? Could Richter be Rocky's long lost brother?

Find out NEXT TIME!

((((((Next Blue Dusk))))))))

Shadow: Who would have thought that this bum of an echidna was actually stronger than I thought. After he sees Rocky, he decides that he now wants to help us defeat the cobalt shroud. Unbelievable. Little that we know he's also hiding something we don't know exactly what, but I'm going to get to the bottom of this and uncover what's really going on with him.

Next time: Accusations Shadows in the Terra Sunset.

Shadow: Wait a minute… person…could it be….


	6. Accusations: Shadows in the Terra Sunset

Ready for action? Ready for fun? Well sit back and reed!

_**Brother?**_

"Rocky…what did you say?" Sonic asked the brown bunny.

Rocky continues to stare in Richter's eyes with tears still coming down and smiling.

"You…..You kept the crest…all these years?" Richter asked

"I..I never lost sight of it. I still remember it…just like I remember you, big brother."

"Big brother?" Mercury scratched her head still confused.

"Rocky…It is you. My little Rocky Road I messed you" said Richter with tears in his eyes.

"I missed you too. So much….big brother"

"Can someone tell me what's going on?" Sonic asked walking up to the two.

"I Heard Crashing, is everything alright?" Everyone but Richter and Rocky turn around and see Chrome walking up.

Chrome turns his attention to Richter and Rocky. Richter looks at Chrome smiling. "Chrome…look who it is!"

Chrome looks at Rocky and felt his heart sink. "Rocky…he's here…"

"Yes…our little brother has come back!" He then turns and looks at Sonic. "Rocky…has this blue boy been nice to you?"

"Yup!" Rocky said happily. "He's my other big brother, and my whole new family. They have been taken good care of me."

"Of course! He's a real smart kid" said Sonic. Sonic instantly felt a tight grip on his back. He sees Richter hugging him tightly.

"Thank you. Thank you so much for looking after him! Every day we were separated I was so worried for my little brother…but now I see that he is doing much better! Thank you blue boy!"

"Uhh you're welcome…now…let me go." Richter lets go of Sonic. "Now, how about telling us who you are and why you saved us?"

"I already told ya, blue boy" Richter said with an annoyed tone. "You were in danger and me and my pals saved you from dying. I would have been nicer, but this blonde loch ness beast came in at attacked me for no good reason."

"What did you call me?" Tawny asked with her face as red as a beat.

"Chill, Tawny" Sonic said holding her back.

"And not only that, but all of you attacked me before I could explain anything! I could have explained everything but nooo….. You guys just had to go all out on me like I was something out of a horror movie. Meanies " Richter crosses his arms

"You aren't too far off, you know" Tawny said crossing her arms.

The others felt a little guilty after hearing Richter, and walk up to him. "We're sorry" Tails said bowing his head.

"Please forgive us" Cosmo said doing the same

"I'm sorry too." Blaze said. He looks at Silver and elbows him.

"OW! Ok, ok I'm sorry too" He said annoyed.

"Guess when you're life drastically changes; it clouds your judgment sometimes. Sorry about that" Sonic said rubbing the back of his head.

"Ahh don't worry about it, pal." Richter said smiling "Anyone who can toss my butt around like you just did, deserve my respect. What's your name?"

Sonic sands firm and points to himself smiling. "I'm Sonic, Sonic the hedgehog" he introduced

"I'm Captain Richter Solairte, Sonic the hedgehog"

"Just call me, Sonic."

"Hey..does anyone notice that the sun is out?" Tails asked

Sonic looks up in the sky and sees the sun shining. "What? We're…were outside" Sonic and the others were confused. They were out in the sun, but they weren't burning at all. "We must have on some serious sunscreen"

"Oh! Right! You Cramzizizi's hate the sun. Well…you are outside…but you're not?"

"What does that mean, orange snake hair?" Tawny asked

"Allow me to explain" Sonic turns and sees Chrome walk up from behind Richter. "You are in botanic environment."

"In other words…you are in a…..what he said"

"So you_ are_ outside but you _are not_ outside but you _are_ outside" said Zenith "Make sence?"

"Kind of…" Tails said

"Anyway…." A glowing gray orb came up to Chrome. The orb opens up and shows cups of red liquid. "Cramoisi…one behalf on of our crew, I welcome you on board the Terra Sunset." Chrome takes one of the cups. "I have here some refreshments, that.."

"OH! Great I'm thirsty!" Richter grabs on. Chorme tries to stop him but Richter starts drinking the cup but then spits it out. YUCK! What is this nasty stuff!

"It's blood"

"Blo..blood…Ohhhh!" Richter faints on the ground. Chrome rushes over and looks at him. Richter had his mouth open with his eyes swirly.

"Darn it Richter….of all times….Richter…Richter!" Chrome tries to wake him up

_**Chapter 6**_

_**Accusations Shadows in the Terra Sunset.**_

_**The good the bad and the wacky captain**_

_**Richter: HEY!**_

Moments later everyone was partaking in a small picnic in the garden. Everyone was sitting on a table with snacks and drinks. Richter was eating a ton of ice cream sundaes while everyone else was watching. Richter wipes his mouth and looks at the Cramoisi

"So…allow me to introduce myself"

"You already did" Shadow said.

"I'm Richter…Captain of the dusk raiders!"

"We know!" said the Cramoisi.

"Richter points to Chrome "This is the co-captain and my younger twin brother, Chrome"

"It's nice to meet all of you…and for the record I'm only younger by you by ten minutes"

"Ten minutes..ten years I'm still older….anyway" Richter runs to Mercury. "This is my third in command, Mercury"

"Hello everyone" Mercury said

"My elite agent Zenith"

"Try not to damage my pretty face" Zenith said winking

"My two destructive twins….Jem and Nai" Richter points to the green and red metallic hedgehogs.

"Hi…please don't bite me" Nai said smiling

"Oh…Oh..I don't mind if you bite me…" Jem said "it's Ok if I become one of you….i don't mind one bit"

"Easy, Jem. Moving on! My handyman...Blade the wolverine!"

"Pleasure to meet you all" Blade said

"And this…is our assassin, Onyx" Richter points to a dark gray fox.

"Yeah..hey" Onyx said calmly

"Our archer….Rin-Rin!" Richter places his hands on the white fox. "Her aim…isn't as sharp as her mind…seriously"

"So her names Rin-Rin" Amy said

"Hiiiiiii…" Rin-Rin said happily

"It's nice to see you again" Blaze said shaking her hand.

"Nice to see you too…uhhhh…who are you?" All Blaze did was laugh politely.

"And this is our newest addition, a little flower bud waiting to sprout; Jazz the hedgehog"

"So…her name is Jazz" Zoomer said to himself

"What's up everyone?" said the lavender hedgehog.

There's also Scarlet and Marine….but both are absent at the time….so there you have it the whole crew!

"Wait...what about…Malcolm and…Mmmmm" Richter covers Jem's mouth

"They will come up later" Richter whispered. Everyone saw a hovering robot that was shaped like a ball come and put four ice cream sundaes down near Richter's chair. "AH! The only thing better than desert…second desert!"

"How can someone like him eat that much ice cream?" Sonic whispered to Chrome

"No one knows" Chrome whispered back.

"How long have we been out by the way?"

"About three days" Chrome answered

"WHAT?"

"Sonic" Tails called out to Sonic. Sonic gets up and walks over to him along with Knuckles, Shadow, and Amy.

"What's up?" Sonic asked

"You know what's up." Shadow crosses his arms

"We need to ask them about the Chaotix and the others." Knuckles said

"Oh right, but….what if it turns out that Richter did capture them…what do we do then?" Sonic asked

"It's really hard to tell if his heart is dark or not….." Tails said

"Well you can always open up the chest and see"

"Yeah, but how would that…AHHH!" Tails saw Richter behind him smiling. "How...How…how long were you standing there"

"Are you creamy-toes talking about me?" Richter stands there, smiling with chocolate all over his face.

"What's it to ya" Shadow asked rudely.

Richter gets a napkin and wipes his mouth. "Well…you can say anything, because you guys looked after my little brother….I want to let you know, if there is anything I can do to repay you just say it."

"Well you see.." Amy was interrupted

"it has also come to my attention that you cramo-si aren't the best fighters" 

"Now wait a minute! Don't forget who own you in our little battle just now!" Sonic said

"What are you guys talking about?" mostly everyone turns around to see Sonic and Richter talking. "Something we should know, Sonic?" Rouge asked

"Well sure…you were able to handle me…but imagine handling another me, or three me's or a whole horde of me's! I'm just saying If you guys hunt down bad dudes….and you couldn't handle Grapple….well…just imagine handling the whole mafia!

"What are you saying?" Knuckles asked

"Let's work together" Richter said "Be sailing the seven skies...I'll even split some of our earnings with you…."

"No thanks" Shadow said

"COME ON! Think about it. Pirates and vampires working together…destroying evil wherever it hides….come on now…..at least give it some thought…act now and get a free cake on your doorstep…chose from 10 different flavors!" Richter gave Tails a slice of chocolate cake.

"Uhhhh…." Tails shudders "Thanks?"

"Sorry but.."

"We'll do it" Sonic said

"What?" Shadow was stunned to hear Sonic's voice. Sonic looks at Shadow and pulls him way from Richter. "What are you babbling about, hedgehog?"

"Guys…let's join him…"

"Why?" Tails asked while eating the cake. "This is actually good…"

"This is going to sound crazy, but…" Sonic looks at Richter who was eating ice cream back at the table. "I had a vision….and Tikal was in it, she told me to look for a man called Solairte.

"Sol-ar-it?" Amy repeated "Who's that?"

"Richter told me that his last name was Solairte. And I want to know if he really is hiding the Chaotix somewhere on board." Everyone else started shifting eyes in deep thought.

"Ok…but how will we know if he's the real deal…I can't even get a proper heart reading on him" Knuckles said

"_The sun burns and is bright all day, while the moon is calm, cool during night. The sun and the moon do not see eye to eye, but at the same time share and love with each other."_ Sonic said. "that's what Tikal told me.

"Wow…your ears are all big….like your chest" Richter told Rouge. Rouge gets mad and slaps him in the face. Richter was thrown into Julie. "Ohhh.." Richter touches her belly. "So like…have you and Knuckles…you know…done it yet…because I'm great with kids!" Julie punches Richter on the head "WOO-HOO!" and he crashes into Cosmo. Richter lays on Cosmo's chest with his face buried in it. "Bah! Wow, your chest almost has nothing at all" Cosmo growls at Richter "You know even some of the younger girls have grown into.." She punches him high in the air. 'HIGH GEE GEEEEEE!"

"Well…he's not bright but he is in your face like the sun" Amy said. She looks at Chrome who was sitting at the table drinking juice. "On the other hand…Chrome is calm"

"WOOO HEE HEE HEE HEE! *crash!*" Richter crashed into a nearby stone structure. "Didn't hurt!"

"Alright hedgehog, we'll see if he has any connection…"Shadow said "If I don't break the information out of him first."

"Hey Richter" Sonic calls Richter. He quickly zooms over. "Like I said…we're in"

"YAY!" Richter gives Sonic a bear hug. "We're going to be the best of pals!" He then lets Sonic go and runs over to Rocky and picks him up spinning around. "Ya hear that little bro? We'll be traveling together, just like old times!"

"Really? Oh that's so cool big brother!" Rocky was laughing as Richter was spinning him.

Sonic rubs the side of his body. 'Ow…he hugs tighter than you do, Amy"

"Oh I doubt that" Amy said folding her arms

"Wow…he looks so…happy" Tails said as he was looking at Richter giving Rocky a piggy back ride.

'We're really going to travel with this fag?" Tawny asked "Please tell me you're kidding"

"Uhhh…Richter?" Sonic walks over "Yeah…I want to know something."

"What's up, blue boy?"

"We want to know if you've seen a group named the chaotix" knuckles said

"Oh…yeah! Yeah! I've seen 'um" Richter said putting Rocky down. All the Cramoisi turn to Richter. Jayden runs up to Richter and grabs him.

"You've seen them? Where? Where are they?" he asked shaking them

"They're on board my Sh-i-i-i-ip!" Richter said being shook. Jayden gasp and drops Richter.

"Where are they?" Sonic asked

"You had better talk." Shadow said

"Jezz man…you don't waste time….anyway….more than likely they are hanging out with the doctor…of course…the doctor might be _playing _with them.

"Doctor?" everyone steps back in shock. They haven't heard anything about the Doctor in over six months. Could it be that their greatest enemy is alive?"

"Yeah….the lovely Doctor is in the Hot Shelter"

"Lovely?" Knuckles said

"He is a fag!" Tawny said "Calling a man lovely"

"Dr. Eggman…is alive?" Tails whispered to the others

"Impossible….mother killed him" said Amy

"I knew it! He can't be trusted!" Shadow declared

"Slow down, alright" Julie said "Let's get him to take us there.'

"You got to take us there NOW!" Sonic said

"Are you kidding? I ain't going down there….when the doc is working….nobody can go down there…not even me"

Shadow comes up to Richter and grabs him by the shirt. "Take us there…now…"

"Alright…fine…" Richter said. "Quickest way there…" Richter runs over to the center of the room onto a large stone slab with a sun and a moon on it. "Is using this….but I warn you the Hot Shelter is the most dangerous…most vile place in the ship"

"Oh really?" Sonic asked

"No" Richter said smiling. Sonic drops doing an anime fall. "it's actually the heart of the Terra sunset and the dusk raider training ground. But that's where the doctor is….and I don't want to be you if the doctor finds out you are down there. Are you sure you want to go?

Sonic walks on the slab. "That goes without saying…."

"Wait for me" Tails walks on the slab along with Jayden, Saphron and Cosmo.

"I'm coming too" Amy said getting her hammer.

"Shadow?" Sonic sees Shadow walk on the slab with the others. He also sees Rin-Rin and Jazz get on as well.

"I want to come too, big brother" Zoomer also walks on the slab.

"And why is that?" Sonic said smiling

"Oh..no reason." Zoomer gets a quick glance at Jazz, but looks away after she looks at him.

"Right…no reason at all"

"Hi again!" Rin-Rin said happily. "I never got a chance to thank you for saving me"

"Oh, now she remembers…" Amy said

"Wait…saved you from what?" Richter asked

"You remember?" Sonic asked

"Yeah! They saved me from some of Dannith's thugs. If they hadn't come to my rescue I may have become another one of his drones"

"You saved my brother…_and_ my crew mate? Man!" Richter hugs Sonic again. "I don't know how I'm ever going to thank you! You my friend are a natural life saver!"

"Yeah...I'm know for that…now let me go"

"You want to come, Tawny?" Saphron asked

"With mister fairy man? Forget it!"

"Can we go now?" Shadow was tapping his foot

"Cool your jets Mr. grumpy McGrumperstien" Richter presses a button on a nearby pedestal. The slab shakes and starts to sink down into a hole; as it was going down walls start to surround the slab making it look like an elevator "Please keep your hands and feet inside while the elevator is moving….and if you get sick easily….well…should have said something.

"What…it's just an elevator…" Tails said shrugging

"Ri-hi-hi-ight an elevator…Ha Ha ha ha ha….ahhh I remember Blade's first time on the ship. *giggle* boy was he supposed"

"Surprised? About what?" Sonic asked

"*giggle* Everyone…you might want to hold on to something…." Rin-Rin said holding on to a rail.

"Why is that?"

"Just trust me.."

"Going down… HA HA HA HA!"

Suddenly everyone feels elevator instantly drop in incredible speed. Everyone lays on the floor screaming except Richter who was standing up hanging on the rail with Rin-Rin. "I told you to hang on." The elevator stops and everyone slams into the celling. Then the elevator moves straight making everyone fly into the back wall. Richter and Rin-Rin both were hanging on the rail while being pulled back by the force of the elevator. The elevator stops again and starts to slowly move up, and everyone was on the floor holding their heads.

"You guys don't look so good" Richter said tilting his head.

"Good thing the walls are well padded with plush." Rin-Rin said smiling

"Ohhh…man…and I thought the roller-coaster at Twinkle Park was bad…."

"You went to Twinkle Park without me?" Amy asked

"It was to help you. You were sick and I was in a rush"

"Uhhh Richter…is the ride over yet?"

"Oh sure you can kick back" Richter said smiling

"Really?"

"Sure…*laughs* Now crouch down while holding on the rail"

"Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep"

"What's that beeping?"

"You guys aren't crouching…" Richter said in a singsong tone.

"Wait…why is he laughing?" Jayden said

"Captain loves it when guess come over...so he…treats them in his own way?"

"How exactly?" Amy asked

Rin-Rin looks at Amy dead in the face. Amy feels as if Rin-Rin was about to tell her something drastic. "You know…it must be hard to put on clothes because of your wings" Amy then had a small sweat drop on the back of her head.

The elevator then starts to shake. "I don't like were this is going" said Zoomer

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-DING!

Everyone flew frontwards onto the front wall. "You said that it was over!"

"Yeah…I lied…*laughs hard* "Richter was on the wall to still holding on the rail. The elevator kept going in directions, and everyone was being thrown around.

"What kind of sick, and twisted ship is this!" Shadow asked

"My sick and twisted ship that I love so dearly! YEA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Richter cackled madly

"This is actually kind of fun!" Sonic exclaimed

"Let's all sing a song!" Richter said happily

"NO!" said mostly everyone.

After a few twist and turns the elevator comes to an instant stop. Everyone fell to the ground moaning in pain. "WHOOO!" Richter shouted. The elevator starts going own

"That was so fun!" Rin-Rin said.

"Yeah!" said Zoomer and Jazz at the same time. They both look at each other. Zoomer blushes as he was looking at Jazz. Jazz just stood there and smiled.

"Who wants to go again? Once more around?" Richter asked about to press the button. Shadow grabs his hand tightly before Richter could touch it. "GAH-YHO-HEEEE!"

"Don't you dare!" Shadow said coldly

"You're hurting me! You're hurting! OW, OW, OW, OW…hurting!" Richter's voice was cracking. Shadow lets go. "Ow….ok here we are…" The elevator door opens up showing a large black room with orange lights. Everyone walks out of the elevator and looks around. "This isn't right. Where's the reservoirs….the fish…*gasp* the fountain!"

"Maybe you hit the wrong button" Sonic said.

"Yeah! OK everyone back in the elevator!" There were a few groans as the group was heading back in the elevator when suddenly the doors to the elevator shut tight. Richter's eyes widen as he looks at the door. "Oh no….please tell me there's a black out…"

"What's going on, Richter?" Shadow asked "You don't seem too surprised"

"Is there something you aren't telling us?" Amy said getting her hammer ready. She along with Tails and Cosmo start to gang up on him.

"Now hold on a minute. There is just some misunderstanding! If you give me some time, I'll take you guys to your pals…let me…" Shadow lifts his hand when all of a sudden he sees a metal band coming from a hole behind him, rap around Richter. Richter looks at the band and looks back at Shadow with a shocked expression. "Oh that's not good."

"What?" Shadow asked

"The Doc knows!"

"Doctor?" Shouted all the mobian Cramoisi.

"Quick! Save yourselves! It's too late for…WHAAAAA!" Richter was pulled back into the hole and the hole closes up. Shadow tries to open it but to no avail. Everyone looks back at Rin-Rin.

"Start talking" Shadow walks up to Rin-Rin staring at her with anger. "What happened to him? Who captured him?"

"I..I honestly don't know" Rin-Rin said with her eyes shaking. "Our doctor may have learned of your presence and is taking a course of action"

"Wait...who is your doc….huh" Sonic was interrupted as he, Shadow, and Amy fell through a trapped door.

"Sonic!" Shouted Tails trying to reach for him but Sonic was too far down. . Cosmo looks behind her and sees a large hole in the wall. The hole suddenly starts pulling her back sucking her in. "Cosmo! NO!" Tails grabs her and tries to pull her out, but the hole swallows the two "WHOA!" of them along with Jayden, Saphron, and Zoomer.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

"YAHHHH!"

"WHOAAAAAA!"

(Screams are in the order of the names given, in last sentence)

While being blown through the hole, Tails and Cosmo get separated from the others. The two of them fall down a hole leading down. "WHOOOAAAAAHHHHH!"

_**Reunion**_

Back at the garden Rouge and Julie were talking with Chrome. Knuckles was watching closely at Chrome while drinking a cup of wine. Chrome pauses for a minute to look at Knuckles; he looks directly at Chrome without looking away. Julie rolls her eyes and pats Knuckles' lap, causing him to look back at her.

"So…uhhh….you said that you brought us on board because we were knocked out?" Rouge asked. She was trying to make conversation from all this silence.

"That's right" Chrome answered "All of us are now floating about 70,000 feet in the air"

"Wait! What happened to the Blue Typhoon?" Knuckles ran up to Chrome. "What happened to the Blue Typhoon?"

"Excuse me?" Chrome asked

"Oh man! The master emerald was on that ship! We got to go back and get it!"

"I'm afraid not" Chrome said getting up "It's broad daylight, you Cramoisi won't survive, and we can't risk making ourselves known during the day. I'm afraid we need to find another time to get it"

Knuckles growls and slams his fist on the table. "Anyone could just go on the ship and steal it?"

"If it comes to that then we will take full responsibly…"

"NO! We got to get here now!" Knuckles tries to make a cloak appear but he for some reason he was not able to make a dark purple cloud. "What?" He kept trying to make the cloud but to no avail. "Why...what's going on?"

"Just how important is this emerald?"

Knuckles looks back at Chrome with Narrow eyes. "Let me make something clear; if someone gets there hands on that emerald…it could mean the end of the world!"

"I see…" Chrome puts down his cup down. "When the sun goes down…my crew mates will help you look for your emerald."

"Tch…" Knuckles storms off and walks out of the room.

"Please excuse him" Julie said.

"Why didn't his powers work?" Rouge asked

Somewhere else on the ship, in a large lounge Silver and Blaze were walking and looking around. They then see Zenith and Mercury sitting at a bar. "Hey Silver!" Mercury shouts while getting up and pulling him over to the bar. "I'm so glad you're here! Waiter, give him something sweet to drink…oh and something for his friend too. A hovering orb-bot gives Silver and Blaze a milkshake; Silver was a tad freaked out but he takes the shake and starts drinking it. He looks at Mercury and tries to say something but was too lost for words.

"So…how long have you known Silver?" Blaze asked.

"We've known him since he was a little baby" Mercury said.

"How do you know me?" Sliver asked

"*sigh* must we spell out everything?" Zenith turns to the others. "You come from the future right?"

"How did you...yeah?

"And you have teal circles on your hand right?" Mercury asked

Sliver looks at his hands and sees the circle. "Of course…but...why would you know that…."

"Sliver don't you get it?" Blaze asked

"No…do you?"

"We are your brother and sister" Mercury said

"What?" Silver drops his shake and it dumps on the ground. "That can't be….I..I don't have any siblings.."

"Then explain this…." Mercury holds up her hand. Silver sees a glowing amber ring just like the one he had. "Zenith has one too" Zenith shows silver the same ring only his was purple.

"But…I don't understand…Dad never told me about…siblings…"

"Of course he didn't…" Zenith said looking away "I assume he didn't tell you so you wouldn't go looking for us"

"Our family has had the same ring birthmark for generations. When Zenith found you, I found it hard to believe…..but now…" Mercury had tears in her eyes. "Now our family can be whole again!" She hugs Silver.

Sliver blushes as Mercury embraced him hearing her sniffle. Sliver felt her warm body up to his; he could feel her heart beat. He didn't fully understand what was going on, but he could tell the by how sincere and serious she is. Silver lifts his arms and hugs her back and closes his eyes. Mercury quickly lets go of Sliver and clears her throat. "Ummm…I'm sorry…I couldn't hold it back any longer."

"It's Ok.." Silver said softly "I still I don't get it, but can tell you aren't lying."

"Yup" Zenith gets up with his head hanging over he places his arm around Silver. "Su casa…es mi..casa…your home is ours… why don't you get yourself situated and you can moooo…" Zenith falls to the ground with his face red and his mouth open.

"Zenith...not again…" Mercury gets out a medical shot and gives it to Zenith. Silver had a small sweat drop coming down his face.

"Ha…it looks like Rocky isn't the only one who had a reunion with someone" said Blaze

"So…who is this lovely lady" Mercury asked

"Oh…this is Blaze! She's my…uhhh.."

"I'm his girlfriend" Blaze answered "It's nice to meet you"

"Oh! Our little brother has a girlfriend. He's not that little baby boy anymore"

"HA HA! Zenith gets back up and grabs Silver by the head and digs his knuckles in Sliver's skull. "So…have you two done it yet?"

"Zenith?"

"Did you also know that your sister is a fan of a lot of novels…maybe our little bro can bite you and you'd be like Bella for real!"

Mercury growls and lifts her hands up. "Gravity trap! 10 G!" Both Zenith and Silver fall on the ground feeling a massive pull of gravity.

"AHHH! I was only kidding!" Zenith screamed "AHHH Merc..Merc…you're pressing to hard!"

"AHHH! My body. It feels like stone!" Sliver said strained

"She can manipulate the gravity around her…" Zenith explained

"You are so immature! I just hope Silver can teach you some proper manners!"

"I highly doubt that" Blaze said crossing her arms. "Looks like you guys have some catching up to do…I'll just go check on the others. Thanks for the drink"

Blaze walks out of the room and sees Rocky and Cream walking out of the lounge room. She ignored Zenith and Silver's straining and walks over to the two.

Cream and Rocky were walking around the ship; as blaze walks up to the two. "Hey little sis"

"Oh Blaze" Cream comes up and hugs her. "Rocky and I were just looking around for someone"

"Oh?" Who?" Blaze asked

"Well…one of the crew mates said that my mother might be on board, so Rocky and I have been looking for her."

"Why don't we look for her together…you know…in case we run into any dark hearts"

"No way!" Rocky shouted "My big brother is the nicest there is. There is no way there are any bad guys on his ship"

"So Mr. Richter is your older brother?" Cream asked

"Yup I finally was able to see him again. I'm so happy! I thought he would have forgotten about me."

"I wonder were my mom might be. I hope she won't be scared of me."

"Of course she won't be scared! She loves you a lot I can fell it." Rocky said

"He's right…if anyone will be happy to see you it's her" Blaze said

Cream smiles at the two. "Thank you"

They enter a large room it looked like a the cafeteria There were tables a small place to eat. "This must be the eating room" said Blaze.

Cream head noises in the kitchen. She walks over to the door and slowly opens it. Though no longer beating she felt her heart sank as she saw a Rabbit that looked like an older version of her. Rocky peaks and looks at the rabbit. The rabbit had on a purple dress with a maroon blouse. She takes a breath and slowly opens the door, making a small creak.

"Is that you, Nai?" asked the rabbit. "I already told you no sweets until after dinner…." The rabbit slowly turns around and sees Cream. She gasped when she looks at Cream. "My…my word…Cream…is it really you?"

"M-Mama?" Cream had tears in her eyes, as she walks closer to the rabbit.

"Oh…what…what happened to you?"

Cream looks behind her back and feels the fangs seeping out of her mouth. "Oh...well...the thing is…" Cream was interrupted when she felt her mother's warm body touch hers. "You…why are you…?"

"I'm so happy to see you. No matter what you look like…you are still my little….wait…" The rabbit let's go and looks at a Cream. "You didn't get a tattoo or piercings did you?"

"Uhhh..no" Cream said smiling and shaking her head

"Or join any gangs or talking to strangers?"

"No mama"

"What about taking stuff from them?"

"Well I did… take something from a woman…but she's nice and she's friends with Mr. Sonic"

"What? You took stuff from other people? How could you?"

"Mrs. Vanilla" Blaze walks up to Cream. "I can vouch for Cream and say that she isn't doing anything odd. I am personally keeping my eye on her, making sure she is abiding to your rules; I give you my word as a princess.

"Blaze…You've change as well…what has happened to you?" Both Blaze and Cream look at each other. They didn't know what to say. Both of them look entirely different and Cream's mom is starting to worry. "Cream…I want the truth"

"She isn't doing anything wrong" Rocky walks up to Vanilla and bows his head. "Please ma'am Cream is like this…because of me. I was killed by an evil man and Cream saved my life by turning into what you see now. But she hasn't done any drugs, or joined any thugs. She did it…because she cared about me."

Vanilla looks into Rocky's eyes; She could see how sincere and honest he looked. "Just who might you be young man?"

"I'm Rocky Road" Rocky bows her head in respect. "It's very nice to meet you ma'am. Cream never told me how beautiful you were."

"My, how polite." Vanilla laughed.

"Please don't be mad a Cream. She only changed to save my life. I assure you she is still the daughter that you love." Rocky bows his head again

"Oh my dear boy" Vanilla lifts Rocky's head and smiles. "I know she is still my daughter, and it's so good that she found a young man who is such a gentleman."

"Thank you ma'am" Rocky said blushing

"Oh Mama I missed you!" Cream comes up and hugs her again.

"I missed you too"

"And besides. Big has told me all about you how you saved my daughter's life, he did however…leave out the part where you two had changed, why didn't Vector tell me about this though?"

"It was probably because he didn't know how you would take it" Blaze answered

"Mr. Vector is on board?" Cream asked

"Why yes…all of them are here." Vanilla answered "Oh that Vector is always trying to find ways to win my heart." She giggled

"So…has the crew been treating you ok?" Blaze asked

"You've been working for Mr. Richter? Do you go on any raids?

"Oh heavens no! I have been working as the ship's cook for the past few months. Richter hired me after saving me from a group of brutes who raided my home."

"Richter saved you?"

"And it's a good thing he did…if he hadn't who knows what they would have done to me. After he saved me I gave him dinner with cookies and that's how he hired me.

"Chao Chao Chao!" said Cheese

"There is where?" asked Cream

Cream looks above him and saw another chao. It was a large red orange Chao with three curved spikes on his head. He looks at a cookie jar with a sharp tooth grin and tries to open it.

"I know that's you, Quinn" said Vanilla

"Cho!" The Chao turns around and looks down smiling. "Cho Choa Chao"

"Don't lie to me. Like I told Nai You can't have those until later"

"Choa…." The Chao floats down looking down in defeat and sits on Rocky's head

"Who is this?" asked Rocky grabbing the chao

"That's Richter's Chao, Quinn" said Vanilla "He's always trying to come in here and take cookies from the jar.

"Cho Cho Chao" said Quinn blushing

"Chao chao!" Cheese flies over to Quinn and waves. "Chao!"

"Cho?" Quinn smiles and waves back "Choa chi choa chao!"

"Quinn is saying 'Hi', and Cheese is saying the same thing and it's nice to meet you"

"It's so nice to see that Cheese is meeting new friends as well."

"By the way Cream, how are your studies coming along.

Cream was a little scared to answer that. She hadn't been at her school for six months now.

"Uhhh well you see…we've been doing great…..it's just that….we had to tend the night classes now"

"Oh…really….well that's still good….do you think you can tell more about what happened to you? I'll fix us up something so you can tell me everything"

"Ok, mama"

_**Out of the frying pan…**_

"AHHHHHHHH!" Cosmo screams as she falls down and holds onto Tails. "Grab my legs!"

Tails does as he was told and holds on to her legs. Cosmo's dress spreads out like an umbrella and they both slowly descend from the air all the way down to bottom. Tails lets go of Cosmo's legs and sees her slowly float down. Tails looks down at Cosmo's dress; she blushes and puts her hands down. "WHA! Sorry…"

"I-It's Ok." Cosmo giggles and walks up to Tails. "As long as it's you I don't mind at all. In fact…maybe you want another peak"

"Maybe later" Tails looks around at the large mechanical room filled with generators, pistons and large gears. "Right now, we got to find the others."

"*sigh*…Ok you're right"

_Hot Shelter ~The engine~(Tails and Cosmo)_

Tails and Cosmo run down the platform on a large metal ramp, deeper into the steaming engine room where they sees massive engine with large gears, screws and pistons. Both jump on a nearby spring and see the whole room. While dropping down from the air they run on a trail of platforms coming out from the floor, and run right on it. "Hey look!" Tails sees a small hoard of egg pawns instantly appear. "Where did they come from?"

"Richter did say the raiders use this place for training" Cosmo mentioned.

The robots came charging at the two with chain saws and shields. "Guess they think were new members. Let's take them down!"

"Right!"

Tails closes his eyes and ignites his hands with his yellow flame, and from his back came out four fire tails, and dashes at the robots unleashing a powerful flamethrower at five of them making their shields melt. Cosmo throws small seeds at the robots; the seeds grow into vines wrapping the bots around them. Tails smiles and throws a fireball at the robots that were trapped making them burn. As he was about to finish them off he hears Cosmo scream. Tails turns around and his eyes widen in terror. He sees Cosmo on fire. He runs over to try and put the flames out but she points at the robots that were on fire. All he could think of is just helping her but then he thinks of the burning robots and what Richter told him earlier.

"_Beginner plant users, such as yourself can easily get hurt if the plants you ever move are cut, burned or bitten."_

Tails turns and runs over to the bots. He extinguishes his flams and uses his tails to make a large whirlwind blowing the fire away. The robots fall to the ground in defeat. Tails rushes over to Cosmo. "Are you OK?" Tails had tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry! I had no idea!" He reaches in his pocket and gets out a red-purple orb and gives it to Cosmo. She takes it and eats it in one gulp. Her body starts to glow and all the burns were instantly healed.

"Ohh…Thanks!" Cosmo thanked

"Can you still fight?"

"Oh definitely!" Cosmo runs ahead and Tails follows her. They both run across the metallic rams and scaffoldings onto the pistons moving up and down. They follow the very rhythm of the pistons movements so they would not get crushed. Next they move across a series of Gears. The gears were moving slowly, so they were able to jump on to one and the next no problem. Tails sees more robots flying overhead. He ignites his flaming tails and throws fire balls at the robots making them fall. Cosmo jumps and kicks the robots to pieces and continues through with Tails not too far behind. As they continue to run through the room. They then run into a large dome-like room with a bottomless pit on the bottom. The only piece of land they saw was a large metal bridge. Cosmo runs across the bridge and sees a switch at the end, and presses it. The door behind them closes and the bridge was slowly being pulled into the center of the room and moving slowly to the left. It moves all the way to another door; they bridge slowly moves up to the door and the door opens up. The two of them run into the door only to find another engine room. They both run into the room and continue going down the passage ways.

"I got to hand it to him, they may be weird but the dusk raiders have a pretty cool ship" said Tails. "Look at this! This is obviously a water engine. You can tell because of that large water wheels and generators hooked on it are impressive. It would take a true genus to modify this vessel."

"Someone like Eggman?"

"Yeah…but let's not point fingers yet. Richter hasn't done anything to prove that his heart is dark."

"Ok. *giggle*"

The two of them continue through the waterlogged room. Tails hops on to a water wheel that helps him move up to a higher part of the room. Cosmo flies up to Tails and looks back into the room. When they leave the room they see anoter room with many computer screens and consoles. They then see large colorful blocks on the ground, each with one different color, with colorful slots to match.

"What is this, Kindergarten?" Tails asked

"Let's just play along. We might learn something" Cosmo picks up one the blocks and moves it into one of the matching slots. Tails does the same. When all the blocks were put in the slots the computer screen shows a large green robot with large hands and a grinning face. They were shocked to see the exact same robot come out of the screen and come at the two. Tails picks up Cosmo and flies off to next room, but the robot comes running at them with its large hands. It later starts hovering at the two. Tails flies and dodges all the obstacles in the way and avoids the robots punches. "Tails look!"

Tails looks ahead and sees a large door slowly closing. Tails spins is tails around and makes a large whirlwind and flaps his wings making him move faster. They just barely make it through the door, and fall on the floor. They heard a large boom come from the robot and saw a piece fall through the crack of the door as it closes. "We made it! OH!" Cosmo tackles Tails to hug him and kiss him. She then looks up and sees passage way to something that looked like a laboratory. "Hey…I think we made it"

"Huh?" Tails gets up and looks at the door way. "You're right! That must be his laboratory!"

_**Hot Shelter **__Act 2 (Tails and Cosmo) Act cleared_

_**Tails Jumps in the air while flying with his tails making a victory sigh while Cosmo spins around like a ballerina as the flower buds in her hair sprouted sparkling spores while doing a small curtsey.**_

_**Tails: We did it!**_

_**Cosmo; That was most enjoyable!**_

_**Return of Metal…**_

Sonic, Shadow and Amy were walking around a large area with ramps that look like interments, and a carnival like appearance with spot lights moving around. "Never took Richter to be the move star type; where do you think he is?__

"When I find him, he better give me answers, or I'm going…"

"Enough, Shadow" Amy said. "If we did drain him, Rocky would never forgive us."

Sonic looks around the area with his hands behind his back. "This place almost looks familiar…it almost looks like…..no way…." Sonic looks at the entire area change completely. The sky turns blood red, the ramps and carnival themes become corrupted with machines. Sonic rubs his eyes and looks at the place again. Suddenly, he drops down on the ground as all the sudden memories come back to him. He remembers this place all too well. "It….it can't be…."

Amy could tell what he was thinking she also had memories of this place….horrible yet joyful memories of this very place. "It's Stardust Speedway…."

"But we aren't at the little planet are we?" Sonic asked

"What are you two talking about?" Shadow asked

"This is the same place where Sonic saved me from…" Suddenly they hear a loud crash; they see a figure come out from the floor. He was a metallic hedgehog with a yellow chest, red shoes and blue glowing eyes. He looks at the three hedgehogs and then looks directly at Amy. Without warning he dashes at Amy. Sonic jumps in the way of the metal hedgehog, but he shoots Sonic with a green laser coming out of his arm. Sonic falls to the ground; and sees the hedgehog grab Amy. Shadow tries to grab her, but the hedgehog fires another laser at Shadow, and knocks him down to the ground.

"Let me go!" Amy tries to break free, but not even with her newly found strength could she break free from the hedgehogs grasp. A small ship comes hovering over; the hedgehog puts Amy in the hovering ship. "Son-" the hovering turns into a large bubble with a metal base. Amy slams on the bubble trying to break free. Sonic gets up looking at the bubble and hedgehog hovering over.

"Where did Metal Sonic come from?" Sonic said

"I told you Richter couldn't be trusted!" Shadow clenches his hands. "He's working for Doctor Eggman, or somehow is connected to him!"

"SONIC!" The bubble that Amy is trapped in suddenly disappears. Sonic clenches his fist in rage. He flies at metal sonic, but he dodges his attack and waves his finger at Sonic. Sonic glares at metal sonic as he turns around and flies away. Sonic jumps down gives chase to the metallic hedgehog.

((((Rival battle; Metal Sonic)))))

Sonic runs across the roads and sees Metal Sonic turn around and fire a large blue laser at the road destroying it. Sonic starts falling but uses the falling pieces of the road to get back on the stable part of the road running after Metal Sonic. As the two of them race down the speedway, Metal Sonic fires large two ball like lasers at Sonic as he was running; Sonic dodges the attack and jumps at Metal Sonic with a homing attack knocking him down on the metallic floor. He gets back up and hovers in the air fire missiles that hit Sonic. Sonic was blown away, but was able to get his footing back by jumping on the metallic buildings surrounding the area. Metal Sonic fires his arm laser at Sonic as he was jumping from building to building. Sonic does another homing attack at Metal Sonic, knocking him into another building. Sonic starts flying with his wings looking at Metal Sonic get out of the broken building and fly off. "Alright…if that's the way you want it…" Sonic flies after Metal Sonic in the sky. Metal Sonic looks behind him and fires more missiles at Sonic. Sonic flies around the missiles while grabbing one and throwing it at Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic throws the missile out of the way as it was about to hit him. Both of his arms turn into large cannons and a third cannon comes from out of his belly. "Whoa…since when can he do that?" Metal Sonic takes aim and fires three massive beams at Sonic, who was struggling to dodge them. Sonic looks at Metal Sonic closely, and takes careful aim. His body starts glowing blue along with his wings, the wind starts to stir up making a tornado, many of the buildings around him were all being sliced up by the mighty gusty winds surrounding Sonic. He spins in a ball and shoots himself at Metal Sonic with great speed. Metal Sonic gets blown way at a great distance too far for sonic to see, destroying all the buildings in his way. Sonic knew that he had won.

(((Rival boss defeated))))))

Sonic's attack had made a large crevice in the city. He flies over to Metal Sonic whose body was very banged up.

Shadow flies over to Sonic and looks at Metal Sonic, and looks at Sonic. "Humph, even with your new power, you still couldn't destroy him" Both of them look around and see then entire city turn black with green squares everywhere. They then see the city turn into a large red-black dome like room. "a virtual reality room?"

"So it was…only a replica of Stardust Speedway"

"Now do you believe me? The Doctor set this whole thing up. He wants to trap us all and he hired Richter to do it. "

"I hate to say it, but you might be right. He even re-imaged the same place where he had Amy….*gasp*" Sonic had just remembered about Amy. "Amy! Where are you!"

"Up here!" Sonic turns around and sees Amy up on a platform tied up to a pole. "Get me down!" Sonic sighs in relief and flies up to Amy.

(mmmmmmmm-Hmmmmmmm)

Sonic suddenly hears an eerie hum come out of nowhere, followed by a light giggle.

(Eee-hee-heee-hee-hee-hah-hah-hah)

Sonic flies behind Amy and tries to untie the knots. "Man, this is tight! Was that you giggling"

"No" Amy wiggles free from the ropes and floats back down. "Ow..man that was tight"

"Sonic!" Tails and Cosmo running over to them from a door on the other side of the arena. Sonic sighs in relief to see his little brother and sister.

"Are you Ok?" Sonic asked.

"Just fine"

"A little burned though…" Cosmo said

"I so sorry. I had no.."

"It's Ok…but do that to me again…and I'll trap you an a thorn bush" Tails chuckled lightly while a small sweat drop came down his face.

(Mmmmmmmmm-Hmmmmmmm)

Everyone heard the eerie hum again with the small giggle. "Where is that coming from?" Sonic and was shock to see Metal Sonic gone. They all then hear a loud boom come from behind. They all turn around and see a large metallic robotic tiger with a red and gray hull and sharp fangs. It opens its mouth unleashing a loud roar.

"Whoa!" Amy shouted

"Looks like the doctor is pulling out all the tricks…" Tails said

"You up for a fight Shadow?" said Sonic

"About time…I was getting tired of you showing off" said Shadow. "Let us handle this one"

((((Boss Fight; Egg Tiger)))))

"This looks like a descent model of egg-bot ready for us to smash!" said Sonic

"Try not to all behind" said Shadow

Sonic and Shadow run at the tiger, as it was firing balls of energy at them. It jumps out of the way to avoid the two hedgehogs and shoots a laser out from its back. The Tiger falls down, reveling a glowing generator on its back. Sonic and Shadow do a double homing attack at the generator, causing the tiger to roar while getting back up. It looks at the two and starts charging after them. Sonic smiles while standing his ground, as the tiger swings it's claw at Sonic. Sonic grabs the claw just before it was about to hit him. He then throws the tiger on the ground, while Shadow jumps in attacking the generator once more. The tiger gets back up and keeps swinging it's claws at the beast. They were both able to avoid the constant attacks.

"Looks like it's getting mad" Sonic chuckled

"Let's put it out of its misery" Shadow's body starts to glow bright red. "Crimson…Chaos…."

"No Shadow!" Shouted Tails. "You'll blow the ship up!"

Shadow growls and stops glowing. Sonic jumps at the tiger's side and does another homing attack, knocking the tiger to the ground. Shadow body emits a dark aura. His eyes glows bright ruby-violet, and he charges at the tiger and throws a punch that the tiger pushing it at the wall with a blast of dark energy. When the smoke cleared the tiger was on the ground severely damaged with purple fire burning around it.

"Whoa…" Sonic stares in awe at the power that the Shadow displayed. "Since when…."

"Are you surprised?" Shadow asked

"No, I think it's kind of cool."

(((((Boss fight: Boss Defeated)))))

**Sonic does a little break dance while Shadow clenches his fist as they were glowing. **___**Sonic: As always all too easy!**__**Shadow: Humph! Not even a challenge! **_

_**Into the Shadows**_

The two hedgehogs walk back to the others. Tails runs up and gives Sonic a high five. "You never stop being awesome, you too Shadow"

"Humph. Whatever"

(mmmmmmmm-Hmmmmmmmmm)

(eee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee)

"Ahhh! There it is again…." Said Tails

"The doctor getting creepy…" Amy said

"I don't know, Something's not right…" Sonic said scratching his head. "This laughter sounds…too young."

"You are all doomed" Everyone looks up on the platform Amy was on and sees Metal Sonic holding his arm. He jumps down and limps over to the group. "Man….I'm be tuning up for hours…"

"AHH! Where did Metal Sonic come from? Wait….since when can he talk?"

"What did you mean we're doomed?"

"You destroyed the Doctor's suit, wouldn't want to be in your shoes at this moment. "

"Like we care. When is Eggman going to stop making you guys? You think a few new weapons and new armor is going to make you stronger? Sonic walks up and knocks on Metal Sonic's head. They then see his head slightly crack. The head continues to crack all the way to the back until it burst into two. Sonic and the others eyes widen as they look what was under the head. Sonic was even more shocked. "No…Way!"

Sonic looks at a hedgehog who looks exactly like him only with lighter blue fur and light blue bangs and glowing blue eyes with one black sacra and one white sacra. Sonic was too lost for words. It was like looking at a mirror. "You looked surprised…Sonic the hedgehog….my equal. You did a number on me…Doc isn't going to be too happy about this. And since you destroyed the suit…" The hedgehog starts taking off the metallic armor while talking. "Very impressive. You were able to hold me off for so long. Of course I'm not surprised…" After the armor was off everyone saw a blue hedgehog with gray pants black gloves with blue gems on the back of the hands, blue and black speed shoes, and one metallic arm. "…considering how I was made to be just like you"

"Made? Just tell me…who are you?"

"I am EC 003 Xcinos. I was created by Doctor Eggman Nega to destroy you; Sonic the hedgehog Prime." The hedgehog gets out his arm cannon and points it at Sonic. Sonic gets ready to fight but sees the hedgehog smile and put his arm cannon down. "But now isn't the time for that." The hedgehog turns around and starts walking to the door.

(Mmmmmmmm-Hmmmmmmmmm)

(hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee)

"There it is again." Said Cosmo

"Hey Xcinos or whatever….you know who's doing that?" Sonic asked

"Are you slowpokes coming?"

Sonic scoffs and follows the hedgehog, along with the others. They all walk into a large laboratory. They all saw the machines and generators. They continue to hear the eerie hum and laughter

(Hee-hee-hee-hee-oh-ho-ho-ho!)

"Who keeps laughing, Xcinos?" Tails asked

"Oh…just call me Malcolm. I don't want to be called by my original name."

"Ok...Malcolm. So tell me, why did you kidnap Amy? And why did you attack us?" Sonic asked

Malcolm turns around while putting his hands behind his back. "Yeah…guess you could say I was reacting to my old programing"

"Old programing?"

"Hey!" Sonic turns and sees Rin-Rin with Jazz, Zoomer, Jayden and Saphron. "You guys made it"

"Made it?" Sonic asked.

(mmmmmm-Hmmmmmmm)

"Yikes!" Jayden jumps and runs up to the others, hiding behind Shadow. "Eeee…."

"Tch…what a baby" Shadow insulted.

"Lovely reunion, but don't you have friends you want to check on?" Malcolm said tapping his foot.

"Wow…you both are like brothers" Amy said. "You both are inpatient"

All of them continue walking through the large lab. They see many glass cages where there were many experiments. "Wow…." Tails was amazed at how advanced all the tech was. "This is beyond anything Dr. Eggman did."

"When do we see the Doctor anyway?" Cosmo asked

"If he's going to show up, both of us are going for round two." Sonic walks in front of Malcolm.

"Heh. Heh…looking forward to it, Prime. But my body is too banged up to do anything. We'll have our rematch soon enough. But I was made by your enemy so why haven't tried to kill me?"

"Don't worry…there will be time for that later. I'm just keeping you alive till we find our friends"

"How noble." Malcolm continues to walk forward. "I thought Sonic the hedgehog didn't kill villains"

Everyone hears another eerie laugh followed by the mysterious hum.

(Mmmmmmmm-Hmmmmmmmm)

(Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-ha-ha-ha-ha)

"Uhhh..Sonic.." Tails quivered. "I'm getting kind of scared."

(Na-la-na-la-la-la-la-la-la)

They then hear metal ticking along with childish singing. Jayden, Saphron, Tails and Cosmo hold each other. "Ok…now I'm really scared!"

"Babies" Shadow scoffed

"Rin-Rin…what's going on?" Amy looks at Rin-Rin stare up into space. She wasn't paying any attention to anyone. She was just looking up while moving forward.

"I like it down here...so nice and bright…just like home"

"Forget it...she's in her own little world." Said Malcolm "That's Rin-Rin for ya"

"Do you know where that's coming from?" Zoomer asked Jazz.

"No I'm new here…I wouldn't know." Jazz answered.

(AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!)

(If you go out in the woods today be sure of a big surprise.)

They hear a small song. "Who is that?" Sonic asked

(If you go out in the woods today you better go in disguise)

"Eeee….they are going to hunt us down one by one and kill us!" Jayden said. "I've seen every horror film!"

"As said before and most likely is going to be said in the future; We…are…already…dead" Saphron said

(For every chao that ever there was will gather there together because…..)

"Sonic…" Amy holds Sonic's arm. "I'm kind of scared too"

"Don't worry I'm here for you"

(todays the day the little chao have their picnic)

(Eee-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!)

"That's it!" Shadow grabs Malcolm by the shoulders and slams him on one of the machines. "I'm not taking another step until you tell me what the hell is going on! Where is Doctor Eggman? And where is that damn echidna so I can kill him!"

"Damn echidna? Jeez…the things you would say about me behind my back." Shadow turns his head and sees Richter sitting on a chair tied up. "You're just a natural born sourpuss, aren't you?"

"Richter…" Sonic walks up to him.

"Don't move!" Richter warned

"Why?" Sonic asked while stopping

"Just trust me…and whatever you do…don't open that closet"

Sonic and Shadow look to the left and see a closet door with a sign that said "DO NOT OPEN!"

"Alright time to see what you are hiding." Shadow walks over to the door and jiggles it open.

"NOOO YOU"LL DOOM US ALL!"

It was too late Shadow had jigged the door open. A body came out and lay on the ground. Everyone, but Shadow, Rin-Rin screamed.

"Dead body! Dead body! Dead body!" Jayden screamed "We are going die….again!"

"Done?" Saphron asked

"Yes" Jayden said calmly

"What is the deal?" Amy asked Richter. "Who is this girl?"

Shadow turns the body over so he could see the face. He feels her wrist but felt no pulse. Her body was as cold as ice. "She's dead" Shadow gasp as he looks at the girls face; he pictures another girl overshadowing the face of this girl. "She…looks like…." Shadow looks back at Richter. "Who is she?"

(Mmmmmmmm-hmmmmmmmmm)

Shadow heard the hum once more. "Where is that coming from?" *Gasp*

Shadow sees the girl slowly sit up with her arms crossed on her chest.

"AHHH! It's alive! Alive!" Jayden screamed

"Done?"

"Yes…again"

She then opens her eyes; one of them was green with a white pupil and the other was glowing blue with no pupil at all. She stares directly at the Cramoisi; and looks at Richter with a smile, while standing up; she looks about the same high as Saphron and Jayden. (4 ft. 8in.) She was a young pale girl with long purple hair with a large black bow tied in the back, a blue tank top and blue skirt and blue pants. She also had on lavender furry bracelets on her wrist ankles and a large one on her neck looking like it was a part of her. What shocks everyone the most was that one of her arms had wires and was metallic, not only that but there was something wagging behind her. It was a long black and blue tail. She crouches down and slowly walks up to Shadow and the others. She starts sniffing on Shadow first, then over to Sonic, touching all around him. Amy was too shocked to even care; she sniffs around Amy and then walks over to Cosmo and lifts her up, to sniff her flowers buds. She then picks up Tails and hugs him while giggling; then she looks at the two humans and sniffs at them. She lets out a light giggle and walks back, but just as she was about to get to Richter she yelps a bit and trips on the ground flat on her face.

"Ouch!" shouted the girl. She gets up on all fours and looks at Richter smiling at him. She crawls over to Richter and rubs her face on Richter's chest, purring.

"What..is she doing?" Amy asked

"I…I think she's cuddling up to him.." Zoomer answered

"Richter…what's going.." Sonic walks up to Richter, but the girl stands in front of Sonic, growling like a dog; an actual dog. "Whoa…it's ok…take it easy…"

"RAHH!" She pounces on Sonic by surprise. Sonic stares at her eyes that that were blinded with rage. He could even see long fangs in her mouth. "You… stay away from daddy you bad-bad man!"

"Daddy?" Sonic looks at Richter.

The girl looks at Shadow and growls. Shadow suddenly gets grabbed by her tail. She pulls him up to her face. Shadow actually looks scared as he looks at her angry face. "Call daddy names again and Alice will turn you into a newt, and use you for her experiments!" The Tail coils around Shadow and at the end it makes a long sharp spike aimed for Shadow's arm. She turns back down to Sonic. "And you…you destroyed the suit Alice worked so hard on! And most of you hurt daddy too! Alice should turn you all into her little test subjects!"

"Now take it easy…." Sonic said

"No!_ You_ take it easy!" screamed the girl.

"Uhhh…sweetie…why don't you let them go?" Richter asked nicely "They don't mean us any harm."

The girl turns over to Richter was a sad face. "but…but they were mean….said such mean things to daddy….and destroyed Alice's hard work. That's why she sent them in the hot shelter…and sent Malcolm to deal with them, and take way something of his."

"Is that why he kidnaped Amy?" Sonic asked

"Well let's face it…she is kind of hot" Malcolm said. Amy looks at him while he shrugs. "Hey…I am based on his design, and personality."

"Silence! All of you hurt daddy, after he was trying to help! Alice will deal with you all!"

"Look…I'm sorry" Said Sonic looking at the girl. "Please, we won't hurt him again"

The girl looks at Sonic. "Promise?"

"I promise" Sonic said sincerely

She narrows her eyes looking at Sonic and at Shadow and then back at Richter. She lets go of Shadow and crawls over to Richter and unties him.

"Uhhh..Hi…" Jayden walks up to the girl. "I'm..Jayden nice to meet…GAH I'm aloft!" the girl grabs Jayden with her tail.

"Silly boy…Alice knows you…Alice knows all of you! She is so sorry for what she did…but Alice was afraid for daddy…"

"Who's your daddy?" Jayden asked "No pun intended"

The girl hugs Richter. "This is Alice's daddy!"

"Alright…enough of this…tell me where the doctor is now" Shadow said

"You're looking at her" Malcolm said

"What are you talking about?"

The girl points to herself. "Alice is the doctor, the doctor is Alice. Alice Agan Kintobor…that's who Alice is!"

"HUH?" Everyone was stunned hearing the little girl.

"Whoa…didn't see that coming" Sonic scratches his head "You…you're the doctor everyone has been talking about?"

"That's what Alice said...,she's also the one who sent Malcolm to deal with you…and the one who let Ta-Ta and Mo-Mo walk through her Hot Shelter. Alice set up everything!"

"Everything?"

"Yup yup!"

"Alice?" Richter walks up "These people are looking for their friends. Have you seen them?"

"Ohhh…They all left before Alice could do another experiment on them…."

"The…the Chaotix were here?" Jayden asked

"Yeah….but they left….now Alice doesn't know how to test her stuff….unless…one of you might volunteer."

"That's ok sweetie" said Richter

"But Mega-Mega is still here."

"Mega-Mega? Omega?" Shadow asked

"Yup! Alice had to repair him. He wasn't in good shape after daddy picked up him up. But after these last few months, he's doing so much better

"Where is he?"

"Follow Alice"

Alice leads Shadow and the others to another part of the laboratory. The all get on a nearby platform that was on a monorail. "This will take us as far as the nearby exit-woof." Alice presses a button and the rail takes off. "Hang on"

"So, you have no ties to Dr. Eggman?" Tails asked Richter

"What? Who's Eggman? You mean Eggman Nega?" Richter asked back

"You don't know Eggman?" Shadow asked

"Nope…Just Eggman Nega….but I don't work for that scumbag, not after what she did to Alice"

"Alice?" Sonic looks at Alice crawling looking away from the others. "What did he do?"

"Look man, she doesn't like hearing it…let's just say a saved her from damnation."

"What? Ok…fine...so why does she call you daddy?"

"Because she's like a daughter to me…." Alice runs up and hugs him.

"Daddy!" she laughs and hugs Richter

"Aww…aren't you the sweetest…." They all see Richter playing with Alice the two of them were laughing while Richter made funny noises tickling Alice under her neck.

"Awww…they look so happy together!" said Amy

"Yeah…" Sonic was stroking his chin in question.

"The captain found her when she was very little" Rin-Rin explained "She's a little crazy…but deep down…she's a very sweet girl. He cares for her…all of us"

They have arrived at another part in the lab. They all get off the monorail and in a large blue and gray workshop. There were computers and small workstations to build small machines around the room, with a clear marker board or chalkboard- in every corner. Shadow looks on the right corner and gasp at the sight of what he saw. He saw a large crimson Black robot hooked up to a machine. The robot looks up and sees Shadow.

"Omega? You…you're alive"

"Told ya!" Richter said

Omega gets up and walks over to Shadow. "Shadow the hedgehog…it...is...good to see you alive?"

Shadow looks around Omega; he looks directly in his glowing red eyes. "Omega….have they…how have they been treating?"

Omega looks at Alice and Richter and back at Shadow. "Though her actions are….unorthodox, the one called Alice has been treating me to best of her knowledge, it is as if she knows my mechanics as well as the creator. As for this one…." Omega points to Richter. "insufficient data on this one…unable to compute the tenacity of his actions."

"Tch…you and everyone else in the world" Richter says laughing

"Omega…have you seen…the others?"

"They were here just recently; they left to the upper deck."

"Let's all go back " Amy said

"Yeah…I'm getting kind of creped out of this place" Sonic said shivering

"HEY!" Alice runs in front of Sonic. "This is Alice's place you are talking about! You dare call it creepy?"

"Well…I..uhhh…" Sonic felt a little uneasy talking to her.

"Alice is watching you…..Son-Son…." Alice slowly backs away to the door way out of the lab. Sonic looks at Amy who shrugs and they both walk out of the room with the rest of his gang. Richter looks back at Malcolm.

"You uhh…want to come too?"

"Sure….as long as they want me up there…" Malcolm shrugs

_**The Next corse of action**_

Sonic and the others reach the lounge room where they see everyone ganged up. Rouge's eyes widen as she sees Omega. She slowly walks over and puts her hand on his chaise. "Is it really you...Omega?"

"Yes…" answered Shadow.

"But where are the others?"

"Oh I'm so good to be out of that asylum…." A black and red armadillo looks at everyone in the room. He then turns to Alice who gives him a lustful smile. "Oh...no….she out….I'll just turn around….and…."

"Might-Might!" Alice pounces on Mighty and hugs him. "Alice is so happy her dolly came back…now we can continue our test!"

"NO!" Mighty pulls himself free of from Alice's grip. "I'm not some test monkey!"

"M-Mighty?" Jayden stares at the armadillo.

"Jayden?" Mighty looks at Jayden.

"Mighty!" Jayden runs over to Mighty in slow motion.

"Jayden!" Mighty was doing the same in slow motion

"Mighty!"

"Jayden?" Mighty looks at Jayden and sees his wings spread out wide with his fangs seeping out as he was smiling.

"Mighty!" Jayden runs even faster

Mighty slowly turns around the other way. "Oh sugar honey iced tea!" Jayden however catches him and hugs him to death.

"Mighty! You're alive! I'm so happy!" Jayden said laughing

"Yeah. Great. Wonderful! You're hurting me!"

"Oh sorry" Jayden lets go.

"Uhhh…Jayden….you….you've changed…you're one of them now?"

"Yup! Now I'm faster, stronger, and my senses have tripled! I don't even need my glasses…but Saphron said that I look good in them…HEY! Why don't you join us? We can be like real brothers!"

Mighty was looking directly at Jayden's fangs"Uhh..uhhh that's Ok…heh heh..uhhh…maybe some other time"

"HEY!" Alice crawls over and grabs Mighty with her tail. "Might-Might is Alice's test dolly! No one touches him, but Alice!"

"No! He's not a lab rat!" Jayden said grabbing his arm.

"Really?" Mighty asked

"He's going to be my new brother in the radiant dark!"

"Ok…that's not any better…"

"No, he's Alice's dolly!" Alice pulls Mighty with her tail.

"No, my new brother!" Jayden pulls back.

"Dolly"

"Brother!"

"I feel like a sock monkey" Mighty hangs his head down as both of them where pulling him.

"Grrrrrrr!" Both Jayden and Alice stare at each other with lighting coming out of their eyes.

"Stop it you two, that's enough" A green crocodile breaks up the two with his large arms. "At the moment, Mighty belongs to no one. Sonic, Amy! Good to see you!"

"Vector! You're alive!" Amy exclaimed 

"Cliché!" Richter said in a singing tone

"Amy, Cream!" A large purple feline comes and hugs Amy and Cream.

"Mr. Big!" Cream hugs Big and gives him a peck on the cheek. "I missed you!"

"Sonic, glad to see you made it" said a purple chameleon walking in the room.

"Yeah! Glad to see you all made it!" A yellow bee hovers over the others.

"Charmy….everyone is here!" Tails exclaimed

"I told you they were fine" Richter said patting Sonic's back. "I saved them….uhhh how long was it? Six months ago?"

"How…by blowing them up?" Shadow asked

"NO! I'll tell you. It all started six months ago.

Flashback

"_Ready boys?" said Vector_

"_Yeah!" said Charmy_

"_Ready!" said Espio _

"_Let's protect our Friends!" said Big_

"_THEY WON"T STAND A CHANCE!" said Omega_

"_Surely you don't think you are going to win that easily" (heh heh!). said a figure_

"_Wait who are you?" said Vector_

_Richter stepped out of the shadows with his glowing gem necklace, grinning as he saw the Chaotix, Big and Omega._

"_Who are you? Asked Vector._

"_Name's Richter, and from what I seen you won't stand a chance against those fools. That's why I ran away."_

"_We won't let them get to our friends even if we have to die" said Vector._

"_That's very sweet but, I think your lives are just as important as there is." Richter then pressed the button on the bomb._

"_What are you doing with that?" asked Vector_

"_Saving your hides! AH-HA-HA HA-HA-HA-HA!" _

_Richter threw the bomb at the entry way of the aquatic base. Richter then went in front of the group and closed his eyes and spread out his hands_

"_Mmmmmmm HA"_

_He then lifted his hands while clasping them together. Then a giant dome of Rock surrounded everyone._

"_You guys might want to brace yourselves" said Richter knelling down. _

_Everyone else did the same thing. In three seconds, there were three loud booms outside the dome. It shook the ground like crazy. Richter was doing his best to keep the dome intact. Then there came the sound of falling rock and building crashing on the dome. After it was all done, Richter slowly opened the dome. They all saw the entire building reduced to rubble._

"_YHAAAAAAA-WHOOOOO! HA HA HA! Score one for the World class thief the tremor solairte! BAW-HA-HA." Richter Shouted to the heavens_

"_Do you realize you could have killed us?" Said Espio with a little anime mad mark on his head._

"_Yes, but I didn't. You're Welcome! "_

"_He's got you there Espio" said Charmy._

"_Well at least we are still alive now we just need to find the others so we can meet up" said Vector_

"_I don't think so." said Richter_ "_If you guys try to stick around, those guys will just get out of the rubble and chase you down"_

"_Well what do you think we should do?" asked Big_

"_You guys need a place to hide? Then come with me. I hide you until you can find your friends"_

"_Really?" asked Vector_

_Then out of nowhere a big ship appeared above them._

"_Does this answer your question?" Asked Richter smiling_

_They all looked at the ship in amazement then looked at Richter._

"_Uhh Ok we're in!" said Vector "Thanks Richter._

"_Ah-ah-ah"" said Richter waving his finger._

"_From now on you are to call me, Captain Richter"_

_End Flashback_

"So there you have it. I saved them from certain doom. So now they too are also working to keep this place in order…and babysitting my pride and joy, Alice"

"Yeah! And now Alice has a dolly to test with!" Alice pulls Mighty with her tail.

"NO! He's going to be my brother!" Jayden said pulling him back.

"I can't tell what's worse…..being a lab rat….or a zombie….."

"Oh my gosh! You still believe that?" Amy asked "Look Mighty…I lied about the whole Zombie thing. We can turn people into zombies as much as much as Knuckles stops being stubborn."

Knuckles growls at Amy. "Why would you say such a thing?" Mighty asked

"For…alone time…." Amy giggled

"Well thank you so much for making look like an idiot!"

"Well no one said you HAD to believe me" Amy said back "Maybe you should stop watching horror films"

"OOHH! OWNED!" Richter shouted

"Whatever…."

"now that we got that settled, what do we say we go to the lab and we can do some more test!" Alice said smiling.

"No…you can come with me…just raise your neck. It will only hurt for a second" Both keep pulling on him.

Sonic looks at everyone talking and laughing, while turning around smiling. "It's good to see some happy faces."

Knuckles turns to Sonic. "Where should we go now?"

"The best thing to do is to head back home, mother is probably worried."

"Home! Wait a minute! We need get the master emerald back!" Knuckles stated

"Why don't you get it now? Your hood should…"

"I can't make one for some reason!"

"What?" Sonic laughs after hearing Knuckles. "You must not be doing it right"

"No it's true! I can't make a cloak!"

Sonic scoffs and tries to make a dark energy cloud. As he was making the cloud he was straining himself manifesting the cloud. He stops for a minute to take a break and tries again and manages to make a small blot of darkness but then it disappears, leaving Sonic panting.

"Not so easy is it, hedgehog?" Knuckles looks at him smiling with his arms crossed.

"Trying to make it rain, blue boy?" Sonic turns around and sees Richter up to his face smiling. "I should warn you Alice doesn't like rain"

"I was just trying to….look Richter there's a….small problem….and we need you to take us somewhere."

"Sure! Where would you like to go?"

"We need you to take us to Soleanna right now!" Knuckles shouted.

"All you have to do is ask….jeez…..ok ok I'll take you there…"

"So we're going back home?" Tails asked

"Wonderful!" Amy exclaimed.

"Mercury…set a course!" Richter ordered

"Aye-Aye"

Amy sees Sonic leave the lounge room leading outside; and follows him. She felt like she knew what was going through his mind. Amy sees Sonic standing on the edge of the deck looking down. The deck was shaded by a large roof. She walks up to Sonic and puts her arm around his shoulder. "What's bugging you now?"

"Huh?" Sonic turns to Amy and smiles. "Oh…nothing….just so many things happing. Just imagine what would have happened if we really drained their captain."

"I know…it's scary to think about"

"I can also remember what Malcolm had told me earlier."

"_How noble….I thought Sonic the Hedgehog didn't kill villains" _

"Have I really lost my way?" Sonic looks up at the sky. He them moves his hand into the light and sees smoke coming out from the arm with a small brown burn mark appearing.

"OW! Sonic!" Amy pulls Sonic's arm out of the sunlight feeling the same burning from her arm.

"Oh! Sorry about that…" Sonic licks the burn on Amy's arm slowly making it heal.

"Look…you haven't lost your way. So your judgments been kind of foggy, big deal. And remember it was Tawny who wanted to drain him, not you"

Sonic lets go of Amy's arm. "Yeah you're right….but I still wonder if Rocky hadn't stopped her…"

"Sonic…do you know why I chose you?"

"Because of my good looks and charming personality?" Sonic laughed

"No…because of your good heart" Sonic stops laughing and looks at Amy with a serious expression. "The care and concern I saw when you were freeing animals and aliens, is one of the reasons I fell in love with you, and let's not forget the times you saved me."

"Yeah I can't forget that. But, I also wonder why our powers aren't working like they used to…"

"Well we will just have to ask mother those questions when we get back to the castle."

Sonic looks out to the sky and back at Amy smiling. "Yeah...back to our home"

((((((((((((TBC))))))))))))))

Cosmo: Richter has proven himself not to be a threat, so why do I feel uneasy? He and his brother explain of the dangers of this grand mafia that exist all around the world. To think that this evil has existed for so long. Meanwhile, the rest of us learn a little bit more about the crew and about their lives while learning a bit about ourselves. Things get even more interesting when we learn of the new additions to our family.

Next time: Returning home, a new bond forged

Cosmo: that flower that Jem has sure is lovey.


	7. Returning home: A new bond forged

(((((Blue Dusk)))))))

Riding across the water was orange and brown raccoon. She had on a green tank top and black pants, and green shoes. She also had an orange sun tattoo on her right arm. She was speeding on a blue and purple and green hover board, away from a hoard of robots coming at her. The robots shoot lasers at her; but maneuvers around the lasers dodging them. She reaches in her pocket and gets out a blue diamond shaped stone sets it in the board, and jumps off. The board instantly transforms into a different kind of flying machine. It was a purple bike like system with fan shaped thrusters in the back and two barrels that looked like a guns in the front. She jumps back on the machine and holds on to the handles and takes off. The robots give chase to the raccoon as she was flying higher in the sky. Three of them come in front of her and shoot homing missiles. She looks on the locking system on her bike and locks on to the missiles and shoots them down. She then takes aim at the robots and shoots two of them down. The last robot dodges all the lasers she fired at it, and fires a large laser of its own. She was able to avoid it, just barley. She looks up and sees a ship flying above head; and flies up to it. She was able to fly up outside deck. Her bike turns back into a disk like device. She turns back around and sees nine other robots flying in the sky at her.

"You've got to be kidding me!" she said as her hands start to glow. She turns around and sees a small pool of water. She smiles and moves her hands at the pool making the water fly and spin around her making a ring of water. The water around her shoots at the robots and wrap around them. The water slowly rips them apart from the inside while slowly crushing them. One of the robots was able to wiggle free and fly at her at full speed. The robot hits the raccoon and knocks her down, making her loose her concentration and drop the water grabbing the robots. The surviving robots walk over to the girl locking their guns onto the girl. Suddenly she sees three of the robots blown away by a powerful blue wind. She looks up and sees a dark figure look at her with ruby violet eyes. "huh?" The figure quickly starts running away and hides in the shadow. There was one robot left that was about to shoot her. She then sees a large green hand grab the robot and crush it to pieces. The raccoon turns around and sees a green metallic hedgehog controlling the hand.

"Hey there Marine" said the hedgehog pulling his arm back as it was forming back to normal. "What took you so long?"

"Nai!" the raccoon runs up to him and hugs him. "How have you been?"

"It's all good, just got back from kicking Grapple's butt."

"Awesome! By the way, what was that **blue wind** that destroyed the other bots?"

"Uhhh….why don't we go inside, and I'll explain everything"

_**Chapter 7**_

_**Returning home, a new bond forged**_

Sonic and his friends were on board the Terra sunset; a ship ran by a rogue group known as the dusk raiders and their captains Richter and Chrome. The Dusk raiders saved Sonic and the others before they were killed by one of the criminal lords of the grand mafia. Sonic and the others still feel uneasy trusting the raiders however, but with it being daylight they are their only hope of returning home.

On board the ship, in the, large lounge room, Sonic was limping in the room with Amy helping him into the room. "You just can't stop being the hero, can't you?" said Amy

"Is this a trick question?" Sonic chuckled

"Whoa…" Sonic turns around and sees Marine looking at him with wide eyes. "S-Sonic?" She was shocked to see her friend with medium bat wings, fangs seeping out of his mouth and glowing ruby eyes. "Is it…really you?"

"Long time no see, Marine" Sonic said smiling. "Now uhh…don't be afraid at what you are looking at, I'm still…"

"WOW!" Marine runs up to Sonic and pulls his wings. "These are soo cool! And your fangs, they are so long! And your eyes, it's like Christmas back home! You look even cooler than before Sonic!"

"Marine?" Tails walks up holding hands with Cosmo. "Is that you?"

"OH MY GOSH! You too Tails? Look at you! You look so different…and…dressed…You all look so different!"

"So do you" Tails said looking at Marine's tattoo. "You…you're a dusk raider now?"

"Yup!" Marine said happy. "Pretty cool huh? Now I can be part of a real, pirate crew, and some day, maybe I will be captain!" Marine stands their laughing triumphantly

"Fat chance" Marine turns around and sees Richter with Chrome and Alice coming in the room. "Love the tenacity child, maybe someday you will be captain...but not of my crew. My assessors have been running the dusk raiders longer than anyone can remember. You can't just claim to be captain."

"We'll see about that" Marine smiled. "I'll be stronger than you one day!"

"Maybe in 20 years" Richter looks at Sonic who was still limping over to the couch. "You ok blue boy?"

"it's nothing.." Sonic said plopping on the couch.

"He went to save Marine from a group of robots while carelessly running into the sun." Amy said like a conserved wife

"Tattletale"

"Poor Cram-Crams" Alice said shaking her head. "Walking in the sun and getting hurt, is no fun." She looks around and sees Jayden playing a video game on the couch. She smiles and grabs him with her long metallic tail.

"Whoa! Hey what are you…" Jayden had no idea what was going on "WHAA!"

"Alice needs you Jay-Jay"

"NO!" Mighty grabs Jayden's arm. "I won't let you use him like he's some test doll!"

"Grrrr…Might-might! Let go! Alice needs him!" Alice pulls Jayden with her tail

"No! I won't let you!" Mighty said pulling back

"Let go!"

"NO! You let go!"

GRRRRRR!

"Not again…" Amy said shaking her head.

"AHHHHH!" Jayden shouted while being pulled. "Let me go! One of you!"

"Wow…a lot has changed since I've been gone." Said Marine

"Mmmmm…" Alice shoots the end her tail at Mighty. The tails tip turns into a sharp point that sticks Mighty in the arm.

"OW!" Mighty lets go and suddenly falls down immobilized. "Can't...move…body…like...stone…"

"What did you do to him?" Sonic asked.

"Don't worry…Alice just spiked Might-might with a serum that numbs the nerves around his joints. Alice has more serums that can also tickle the nerves to make him laugh without control, and sometimes feel agonizing pain, but Alice only uses that with enemies. Anyway….Alice needs to borrow Jay-Jay for a minute."

"Hey wait! Don't I have a say in this?" Jayden asked

"Don't worry. You'll be fine. Alice won't hurt you….you know….a lot…"Richter said

"What?"

"Let's go Jay-Jay" Alice walks out of the room.

"I…should follow him" Saphron said following him

"Oh, captain!" Marine gets something from her backpack. "I brought you back some souvenirs

"OH! Is it rock candy?" Richter asked

"Well it's rock….but you can't eat it" Marine pulls out two large diamond shaped stones. One was yellow and the other one was cyan, both glowing brightly.

"Whoa!" Richter stares at the stones in awe. "You got two Chaos Emeralds!"

"Yup, I was able to find them during my travels. Good thing I found them when I did. Otherwise who knows what could have happened if Eggman Nega got them?"

"Excellent work, Marine!" Richter said looking at the emeralds.

"So, Sonic,...what happened to ya, mate?" Marine asked

"Well…" Sonic felt a little awkward talking about what has happened to him over the last few months. "Well you see…"

"We have turned into monsters by an undead vampire who wanted to find love, as well as everyone else." Amy explained "But Sonic is the same as before as is the rest of us"

"You're…vampires?" Marine asked stunned

"In a nutshell, yes" Amy answered

"it's Ok we won't bite your or kill you or any-" Sonic was cut off.

"EVEN COOLER! I thought Richter was hosting a costume party or something. But this is even better! Hey! Bite me! I want to be one too!"

"Nu-uh, Marine!" Jem said running up. "They are biting me first!"

"No! ME!

"ME!"

"GRRRRR!"

"Oh come on! Can we stop with the arguments and get on with the original story please?" Richter asked

"What are you talking about Richter?" Sonic asked

"Oh never mind."

"Richter…we are within minutes to Soleanna." Mercury said coming in. She looks at Silver , smiles and waves and then looks at Chrome who was smiling. She looks down and starts blushing. Silver looks closely at Mercury.

"Hey..Jem…don't you have your own business to deal with?" Richter asked.

"OH!" Jem hits her fist with her hand. "That's right! I got to go!" She runs out the door. Tails looks at her as he ran.

"Where is she going?" Tails asked

"Why don't you go and find out little fox boy" Richter said

"Come on Tails" said Cosmo pulling his arm out of the room

"Ok" The two of them walk out the same door as Jem

"I'll go too" said Marine. "I'm going to train some more. I can't believe I let those bots get the better of me."

Sonic sits on the couch with Amy. Amy reaches over to the table and grabs a glowing red and violet orb. "Here Sonic"

(Reiminder, the red violet orbs are what Sonic and his friends absorbed from the thieves and collected. )

Sonic grabs the orb and bites it. He slowly sucks on the orb, and feels warm blood come down his throat, as he was drinking the orb slowly starts to shrink until it was the size of the lime. Sonic opens his mouth and swallows the small orb. He sighs in relief and smiles at Amy. "thanks Ames"

"Anytime"

"What are these?" Richter grabs another one of the orbs. "Some candy?"

"No" Amy said taking the orb and biting it.

"They are what mother calls Sin's fruit" Sonic said

"Wha…sounds..evil"

"That's why we decided to call them **blood cores**."

"Ok..that sounds much better"

"Blood cores are orbs that contain a blood supply of those who we hunt down" Amy explained while getting out something from her pocket and showing Richter red seeds. "but These light seeds we throw on our victims necks, pricks the skin and sucks the blood of the dark heart right out of them.

"In the process the victim will either collapse from exhaustion or turn to ash, depending on what kind of heart he or she has" Sonic finished

"That is insane!" Richter said laughing. "You guys would make awesome blood downers!"

"Come on Richter, we should figure out how we are going to land the…where are you going?"

"Uhh..I'll catch up with you guys later!" Richter gets out his Extreme Gear and runs out the door. "GETTING ME SOME HOT CAKES!"

"Richter!" Chrome growls but then sighs. "Mercury, I'm going to the bridge, could you meet me there in a few?"

"Oh! Um..sure" Mercury said. "Yeah, I'll be right there" Chrome smiles and walks out of the room. Mercury sits down and sighs. "What's happened to me?" she said to herself

"What do you mean?" Silver asked walking up. "is everything alright?"

"Oh..uhh yeah! Sorry I was just…" Mercury looks to where Chrome left and back at Silver. "it's nothing."

"I don't think so" Blaze spoke "it's Chrome isn't it?"

"What about him?" Mercury asked getting up and walking out. Silver and Blaze follow her. She was walking down the large hall way.

"You like him don't you?" Silver asked

"No" Mercury said quickly

"Come on….I can feel your heart racing whenever you see him."

"Oh yeah!" Zenith comes running up to them. "Mercury has a_ huge_ crush on Chrome.

"Shut up Zenith!" Mercury shouted "I have nothing to do with him, alright!"

"Liar" Zenith sang "Since we first met him they were best palls, but through time Mercury has developed feelings for the captain. Now her face gets as red as a beat whenever she sees him!" Zenith gives Mercury a shoulder hug.

"N-NO! I don't! That's a lie!"

"So..you like him? Aww..my sister has a crush!" Sliver said in a teasing matter "That's so cute!"

"Yeah ain't it though?"

Both Silver and Zenith we're laughing making kissing noises. Mercury clenches her fist while growling. Both boys felt a pushing force press down on them as they fell to the floor. The both look at Mercury who had her head held down. "You guys are such big jerks!" She bellowed storming off.

"Do you think I said something wrong?" Silver asked

"Oh no Sliver!" Blaze said "You said nothing wrong, her feelings weren't hurt, she didn't just storm off holding back her rage."

"Oh that's good" Silver said helping Zenith up "For a moment I thought I hurt her feelings.

"You nitwit! You did hurt her! First Tails and now your own sister! Is there something wrong with your head or something?"

"Oh…" Silver was thinking back to when he was making fun of Tails for falling in love with a flower. How he insulted not only him but the flower that he held so dear. Silver stops smiling and sighs. "You're right…Dang…I wasn't thinking"

"You're right, you weren't. You just aren't that smart are you?"

"Oh don't feel bad, little bro" Zenith said patting his shoulder. "Sometimes I push it too far too, but Mercury always feels better after a while."

"You two should still say sorry" Blaze said

"Fine, killjoy. We'll say we're sorry Ok?" Zenith walks over patting Blaze's head.

_**What blossoms in Spring**_

Somewhere else on the ship, in the botanical garden, Jem was watering multiple plants and trees that were all assorted into smaller gardens. Cosmo looks from behind and sees her watering the plants. She saw Jem smiling and humming happily watering different kinds of plants.

"My goodness" Cosmo said looking at the plants

"YAH!" Jem drops her water can and looks at Cosmo. "Oh! You started me!"

"Sorry" Cosmo giggled "It's just that it's been a long time since seen so many flowers in one place. They all look so lovely

"Thanks…heh heh…I look after them every day….i want to stay as strong as they can be. By the way, I never got your name Miss…."

"My name is Cosmo."

"Cosmo…I've never seen anyone like you….what are you exactly?"

"I am a Seederan; a being from another world."

"Wow…you're an alien. A very pretty alien, who's a Cramoisi. You really like my plants?"

"I really do…I can also tell what the plants are saying."

"What?"

Cosmo was standing there with his eyes closed. Cosmo, being an alien of her race, she is able to read the thoughts of plants and feel what the plants feel. She was able to read all the plants around her. She smiles as she opens her eyes and looks at Jem. "They are…happy….they are all happy. You have taken very good care of them."

Jem quirked her eye brow looking at Cosmo. "How did you…."

"I can hear the plants around me. They are saying such nice things about you. How you water them, feed them and sing to them. The all miss you when you leave and rejoice when you return. You truly are a wonderful caretaker.

"Thank you!" Jem said happily. After a few minutes, Jem was watering in a small greenhouse. Cosmo then sees **a different kind of plant**. It was blue and purple with green leaves at the bottom. She slowly walks up and closes her eyes. She tries to read this plants thoughts but didn't feel anything.

"Mmmm?" She opens her eyes and closes them again trying to read the plant's thoughts, but once again she felt nothing. "Strange…"

"This is one of my special plants" Jem enplaned "I found it almost a year ago. But after a while it stopped growing. The leaves don't wilt ,it doesn't get dry, it's been like that for a really long time. So I just treat it like all the other plants. But you know there is something about this plant…something that I can't wrap my finger around, but I just know that this one is calling to me."

"Mmm…maybe…..all plants are special, I do feel as if **this plant** will become useful to you in some way"

"Heh, yeah…maybe it will grow into a hansome prince that will come and save me." Jem laughs while attending to the other plants.

"You'd be surprised at what comes out of plants." Cosmo said still looking at the flower. She slowly moves her hand over the potted plant. She suddenly feels this sudden shock, and later gets a vision. She looks at the plant in shock and backs away, while shaking her head.

"Are you Ok' Jem asked coming up to her and feeling her head.

"I'm fine…i…I just had a vision of the past that's all"

"Oh….bad dreams?"

Cosmo looks at the plant still trying to get over what she saw. "Yes…but I'm ok now"

"Mmmm…maybe I should start watering you…oh! Unless water hurts you guys"

Cosmo laughs at Jem. "No, water doesn't hurt us, we aren't like those vampires tails told me aobut"

"Oh…well then what kind are you?"

"Perhaps we should find somewhere to sit, I'll tell you everything you need to know."

"Yes please!"

_**Irons thicker than blood**_

Inside another room in the terra sunset, there were many smaller flying crafts everywhere. Marine was working on her extreme gear. Tails was looking around the hanger at all the ships and machines. "Wow….you made all these machines, Marine?"

"Some" Marine answered "Alice and Malcolm also had their hand as well. I became inspired by their work, and wanted to make more than I've ever done. Hey by the way…where is your big space ship?"

"Oh…it's uh….I left it in Spagonia…." Tails said bashfully.

"Well…why don't you go get it?"

"I..can't walk in the sun"

"Ohhh…..well that sucks"

Nai came down holding a tray of drinks and sacks. "I thought you'd be down here."

"Hee hee, yeah...if it's not here it's the pool." Marine said happily. She gets up wiping her hands and grabbing a cookie. Nai looks at her going back to her machine. "thanks for the cookie"

"Sure…no problem"

Tails looks at Nai who was blushing. "mmmm?"

He sets his tray down on the nearest table and walks into another room. He then sits on a steel slab, as few hovering robots come out from the ceiling and hover around Nai. Tails walks in the room and sees the robots scanning Nai.

"What are you doing?"

The robots come around and start detaching some of Nai's limbs, setting them on the table and fixing them. "I don't want Marine to see me while I'm tuning up"

"Why don't you just wait till she leaves?"

"Well…uhh…I Um…." Nai was hesitant about what to say. "My right arm has been killing me since my last training session."

"Right…" Tails said smiling. "He looks at the robots slowly work on Nai's robotic parts slowly fixing them and replacing some robotic parts

"Guys make sure you use the EF005 Hydraulics the last ones nearly burned out my power cell. And this time go easy on the .." A robot was slowly taking out one of Nai's eyes. "Hey! Warn me next time!" Another robot comes up and pushes Nai's chest opening it up reviling a lot of mechanics in his body. Nai's body was metallic and filled with gears and wires, and a glowing blue chamber that opens up reviling a white and blue light.

Tails looks in awe at the energy. "Wow….what is.."

"Don't touch it!" Nai warned making him back away. "That is my spark chamber if you touch it, it will send a 200 volts of electricity through your system." A robot hovers over and puts a stone inside the chamber, while taking another one out. The robot who took Nai's eye puts back his eye and takes out the other one. It doesn't pull it out completely but pulls it out to see if the wires and optic functions are working right

"Wow….all of this tech is impressive. Who built you?"

"No one _built_ me. In fact none of the Robiens on the ship were built, they were all robotized"

"Was it Eggman..or Eggman Nega?"

"Well I don't know about Alice and Malcolm too much, but my sister and I were robotizied by another man, only he did it to save our…"

"Hey guys! I'm all done tuning…." Marine comes barging in seeing Nai all broken up. Nai blushes looking at her Marine's face goes completely red and she turns around. "I'm So Sorry!" She runs off, leaving them both bewildered.

"Opps! Heh heh…Tails chuckled.

"Oh! How embarrassing!" Nai said.

"Attention all Passengers! We are now approaching the Soleanna forest." Everyone heard Chrome's voice over the intercom. "Brace for landing"

"Sounds like were home" said Tails

The robots were putting Nai's parts back together allowing him to stand up. He moves his limbs and joints feeling there movement. "Ahh…much better…see ya guys…if I don't come back, take care of my guitar." The bots look at each other and back at Nai and see him run off"

_**Forest of Mystery **_

The Terra sunset lands in a large clearing in the forest. A flight of stairs comes down on the side of the ship. Rin-Rin comes down looking around the area. "All clear" She said walking down.

Sonic looks from inside the ship while Amy tries to make a dark cloth. "Any luck, Amy?"

"No…" Amy sighed "I had no idea I'm still this weak"

"Step aside" Onyx comes walking up in of everyone. He then takes out his daggers and throws them on the ground outside. The blades suddenly shot out a black ray that shrouds the area in a large back mist. Onyx walks in the dark mist. Everyone was still able to see him; it was as if he was inside a black bubble. "This technique comes in handy when i…hunt down my prey, but I have made it so it's easy to see"

Sonic was the first to walk out. He walks into the large mist and didn't feel any burning. The others also walk outside and didn't feel any burning. "You can make a cloud of darkness?"

"Yup, that's what **dark users** like me are able to do. You showed off some pretty good moves out there when you fought Richter. Not a lot of **wind users** last one minute when they go toe to toe with the captains.

"Wind user?" Sonic looks back at Onyx and quirks his eyebrow. "I can move fast but how am I…" Sonic suddenly feels a strong force, as well did everyone else. "Do you guys feel that?"

"Yeah….." said Knuckles. "Something big. Pretty evil"

Chrome suddenly felt his stone necklace give a violent glow. "Something's coming!" The earth starts to shake and rumble; and then everyone sees many pools of darkness appear on the ground. From the pools came out these demon looking creatures. They had charcoal black skin with claws and black horns. Their eyes looked like two red "V's" on their faces. They look at everyone and let out a horrid shriek that sounds even worse than the bloody cry of the Cramoisi, not as loud however.

Sonic looks at the monsters and thinks back to another time, when he first felt something was wrong with Amy ,and when he rushed through the jungle seeing these same creatures. One of the monsters jumps at Sonic, but suddenly the monster gets cut in half. Sonic looks and sees Chrome with his sword in hand staring at the monster as it disappears into smoke. Sonic looks at Chrome who looks back at him. "Wait…." He then remembers the same figure who fought the same creatures before. "Wait…you're the one who….."

"Look out!" Amy swings her hammer at one about to jump him. "Quit gawking! And get your sword out!"

"Oh right!" Sonic reaches for his gauntlet and gets out the blue Jema, with his azure armor covering his body. Shadow sees Sonic in his armor. He looks at his white gauntlet with a red gem inside. He pulls out the gem that turns into a large red blade with a gun as the hilt, he grabs the sword and his body gets covered in armor just like Sonic only his was jet back with crimson highlights.

"Whoa…I didn't know you can do that to!" Sonic said

"Did you forget that I too was a knight, hedgehog?" Shadow asked.

"Look out! Here they come!"

((Battle))))

The monsters attack the group without warning. Many of them set their sights on Sonic and Shadow. They slowly crawl at them while growling and drooling black saliva. They all jump at Sonic at once: Sonic jumps back and swings his sword unleashing a gust that blows them in the air. Shadow warps in front of the monsters in the air and swings his sword killing it and doing the same to the others in the air. More keep coming out from the ground trying to attack the others. Chrome was doing what he can to hold them off by swinging his sword unleashing a powerful icy wind friezing them. Amy swings her hammer at the frozen monsters smashing the monsters to pieces. As the monster continue to come out larger and stronger ones come out from the dark pools. These stronger ones stood on two feet unlike the other ones who walked on all fours. They were more humanoid with armored vest and shin guards. They even had black maces with round shields. Sonic comes at them with sword in and swings it at the taller monsters, but these ones fought back even stronger than the last ones. The shields were making it almost impossible to hit them. Sonic Jumps back and spins his sword like a windmill making a strong turbulence blowing at the monsters, but they stand their ground and continue to come at Sonic. Sonic stops spinning and jumps in the sky and swings his sword the monsters, who yet again block the attack. Suddenly the monsters were knocked on their feet by a blue wind. Sonic had quickly disappeared and reappeared behind them swinging his sword at the monster's feet. The monsters fall to the ground with their sheids on the ground. Sonic sees his chance and stabs them both in the chest. Shadow uses chaos control to wipe out many of the monsters with his blade and shooting them with the gun attached to his blade. Sonic looks at the remaining monsters still coming at them; more of them keep coming out of the shadows and getting closer.

"There's no end to them!" Amy said while bashing two more.

"I can keep this up all day!" Sonic finishes of another monster.

Suddenly there was a large purple orb that shot up to the sky. It burst into the sky unleashing a wave of purple light. Then the sky starts to get so black and cloudy that it covers up the sun making the area dark and gloomy. Then everyone sees a dark purple portal appear near a large gate. Out of the gate many hooded figures with different weapons, that come to attack the monsters. They came at the monsters like a tide wave wiping out many of the monsters making a few of them retreat. When it looked like they were about the win suddenly two last beasts came out two large separate pools of darkness. One was a large monster crawling on all fours and an oval shaped body and a large mouth with multiple teeth. The other one was a huge red lion like beast . Both beast had the same "V" shaped eyes that looked at the group fighting.

"Oh come on!" Zenith whined "You got to be kidding!"

"Richter picked a fine time to go look for snacks!" said Chrome

"Sonic!" Amy looks back at Sonic with worried eyes

"What? It's not like we can't handle it" Sonic said smiling "We got this!"

"my, my this is one big mess, isn't it ,children" Everyone turns around and sees Darcy and Zerach walking from the purple portal from behind. "Where have you all been? I was so worried"

"You know…stopping bad guys, teaming up with priates….one of those days" Sonic chuckled

"Mmmmmm….." Zerach stares at the monsters coming this way. "I have never seen such a monstrosity in years" Zerach then forms a white cloud from his hand and draws a sword coming from the cloud. It was a white sword emitting a shining light. His entire body then starts to shine. "Shining lights of the morning sun; Porte Legire!" Everyone sees a large shining light glow below Zerach; Zerach's gold fur starts to reflect from the shining light along with his platinum wings.

(No his body is not made of gold, nor are his wings made of platinum)

"Why is he staring there?" Sonic asked

"Just watch child" Darcy said

Zerach opens his eyes, that were now glowing gold. He arms his sword and vanishes into multiple light particles. The monsters get closer to the group, as one of them was about to swing it's claw at them it suddenly many orbs of light appear around it, freezing it in its place. One of the orbs of light shot out a white ray cutting through the beast, another orb shot a ray, as did another, all the orbs shot out rays of light that go through the monster, causing it to dissolve into dust. The lion like monster jumps at the group when it's eyes suddenly went black. It drops down shaking it's head, as if it could not see. It then starts running crazy into a nearest pile of Rocks. The monster gets up with its eyes still black it tries to look around but it still couldn't see a thing. Light particles then appear in front of the monster and form into a figure. The figure then turns out to be Zerach holding his sword up. "Heavenly justice; Holy Judgment!" A large ray of light comes down on the monster cutting right through its chest. The lion makes a powerful roar before falling to the ground. Zerach slowly descends down and looks back to everyone with a smile.

"What was way past cool" Sonic said walking up to Zerach.

Zerach looks at his sword while spinning it around. "I may not have my ring, but my power was more than enough for these beasts. I fear that this is not the last we've seen of them. " Zerach sword disappears and he looks at Sonic with a smile. "Sonic ,my boy, so good to see you after all this time."

"Master Zerach" Sonic bows his head long with all the other cramoisi. "Yeah….heh..sorry about that….we just thought it was another hunt like all the others. But it turns out…" Sonic looks back at Chrome and the dusk raiders.

"And…who are new friends here?" Zerach asked

"They brought us back here, after we were nearly killed….yeah.."

"Sir Zerach" Chrome walks up and kneels down in front of him. "It is an honor to meet you; I am Chrome Solairte, second captain to the dusk raiders."

Zerach strokes his chin and walks around. "Tell me Knight, what brings you here and what business do you have with the Cramoisi?"

Chrome looks up at Sonic and at Zerach. "A great threat may befall the world. The criminal underground has its sights on multiple zones and cities. With your help, we may put an end to it and bring peace to this world."

"Zerach, the dude we went up against knew what would hurt us. He had a large rock made of nth metal that nearly killed us, but they saved us before they had a chance to do so.

Chrome gets up while Zerach reaches his hand out to his face. "I see…..you're troubles with this mafia….but i…I see another threat…a threat that has troubled you for years. One you cannot fight alone." Zerach opens his eyes and looks at Chrome. "I see no intentions of you trying to do harm to my children."

"All we wish is for your cooperation. With Dr. Eggman Nega teaming up with your enemies and the criminal underground, it will be hell on earth."

"And it turns out that the Gaia manuscripts were also taken as well" Mercury said walking up. "From what information we have gathered"

"Oh dear…that's not good at all" Darcy spoke "Especially since this criminal underground knows of our weakness. It seems your brother is really doing whatever it takes to kill us off. And create the world the way he wants it."

"We've already agreed to help them" Sonic said "But how could Klaus unleash Dark Gaia? The Chaos emeralds still have their power, the plant is still in one piece."

"With the right technique you can create a different way for Dark Gaia spawn to seep out piece by piece."

"If I may captain" Onyx walks up. "Blade and I have found something similar to what Sir Zerach is speaking of. We found one of the robot generators at a place known as the **Gaia gate** when we went to Spagonia, it looked like some form of a **summoning circle**"

"Summoning circle?" Chrome repeated

"Then it's just as I thought. With those Summon circles Klaus can bring back Dark Gaia's spawn. We will need to Seal up the gates before that happens."

"How can we seal it? With the Chaos emeralds?" Sonic asked

"You seem like the man who can seal him away, Sir Zerach" Chrome said "Your battle style is most remarkable"

Zerach looks down and sighs. "I Thank you knight, however without my ring…not even I would be strong enough to push back Dark Gaia to the depths of the earth. You will need the power of light Gaia to do it"

"Light…Gaia?" Sonic looks down at his wrist looking at the large stone ring with a huge green gem on it. "You mean like this?" Sonic shows Zerach the ring.

"How did you obtain his holy ring?" Zerach asked in shock

"It was…a parting gift."

"So..you've met Light Gaia….do you know where he is?"

"No" Sonic said sadly, but then he looks up and smiles. "But I know someone who might"

"If you know someone….I insist you visit them as soon as you can. We are going to need all the help we can get." Darcy instructed

"Alright. We'll wait till nightfall. We need to head back to Spagonia."

"Risky move, Sonic" said Chrome. "I wonder where that lazy bum of my brother is." Chrome presses his com-link. "Richter…Richter! Come in, over" He hears no response "Richter! Richter! *groan*"

Suddenly Sonic hears a noise come from somewhere. He hear's a groaning noise coming from the large monster. He walks up and hears a gurgling noise from the mouth. "What the…" He sees something come out of the monsters mouth. It was orange brown and slimy. Everyone groans in disgust looking at what the monster coughed up.

"What….is that?" Amy asked

"A hair ball, maybe?" Knuckles wondered

Everyone saw the hair ball move. Sonic jumps in surprise when he sees it was Richter covered in slime. "Richter?"

Richter opens his eyes looking at everyone. "*cough* *cough* Hey..Sonic…*cough* you will not believe what I've been through for the past two hours"

Amy looks down at the ball of brown fur next to Richer. She turns it over and sees that it was a brown hedgehog. She had on a old white shirt with dirt stains, and tattered jeans too, she also had on no shoes. "Who is this?"

"Oh.." Richter looks back at the hedgehog and picks her up. She opens her eyes and sees Richter. "Are you Ok?"

The girl gasped looking at Richter and looks away. Darcy quirks her eyebrow; while Sonic just stares at them.

Sonic walks closer to her. "Hey don't be scared we won't"

"EEPP!" The girl yelps quickly moves behind Richter.

"Is she alright?" Sonic asked Richter

"Uhhh….yeah she's just kind of shy around new people.

"Hey…" Sonic walks closer. "There's no reason to.."

"OHH!" She screams holding Richter tighter

"OW!" Richter feels her nails dig into him. "Stop it! You're scaring her!"

"Sorry" Sonic backs away. "So where did you find her?"

"Perhaps I should explain…after we take a shower…." Richter looks at Darcy. Richter was about a few inches taller than her. "Who's the little girl?"

"Uhh..Richter"

"Aww look at her….she looks like a little sweet heart. Is she going to be a part of our crew?"

"Richter!"

"You look so young and fit! What's your element little girl?" Darcy lets out a light giggle.

"RICHTER!" the raiders shouted.

"WHAT?" Richter answered back

"That...is the Cramoisi queen, Darcy" Chrome seethed

Richter opens his eyes wide. "Oh…Oh….OH!" Richter looks at Darcy who was laughing. Richter then bows his head down 'Please forgive me…I had no idea…"

"it's quite alright" Darcy said "You must be Chrome's brother it' very nice to meet you"

"Likewise, your highness"

"So…" Darcy looks behind Richter looking at the girl. "Who is this lovely girl with you?" the girl looks at Darcy. The girl looks in her eyes, and starts to feel a little better. She let's go of Richter and comes over to Darcy. Darcy puts her hand over the girls head. A purple aura shrouds the girl and Darcy. "You poor thing….you've been through so much….so much pain in your heart." Darcy then removes her hand from the girls head.

"Whoa….how did you do that?" Richter said staring

"We Cramoisi can read the hearts of mortals. Including yours, you seem a bit…odd…but you don't seem like do a threat. Zerach have you made your choice?"

"Indeed" Zerach said. "We shall offer you our assistance in this fight for peace.

"You will?" Richter said surprised "GREAT! Madame Darcy Sir Zerach you won't regret this!"

"By the way, Richter. Who is this girl?" Sonic asked

"Oh" Richter almost forgot. "This is** Lila.** She's someone I saved from being raped by a few thugs.

"Rape?" Darcy tilts her head. "What is Rape?"

"You don't know?" Richter asked. "Well it's when -" MMM!" Chrome covered his mouth

Sonic walks up to Darcy and whispers in her ear. In a second Darcy opened her eyes wide. "WHAT?" Darcy voice booms and birds fly out of the trees and into the sky.

"GAH! I didn't do it! I'm still a virgin!" Richter said quivering.

"Unacceptable! Unforgiveable! Barbaric behavior I have ever heard a mortal will do! Of all the sickening, disgusting, distressful… I should drag these fools down to the bowels of hell myself if I had to!" Darcy looks at everyone who was looking at her in shock. Darcy had a small sweatdrop come down her face. "Ahem…I'm sorry…just hearing that from Sonic was an awful thing to hear….What has happened over the years I was asleep?

"Ummm…we can talk it over, Madame….Mercury could you please give Lila some new clothes and a shower…Richter…get yourself cleaned up"

"Qui, moi captain. Lila come to into my vessel. " Richter said in a funny accent

Lila looks back at Darcy who smiled and her and then looks back at Richter. "Come on, Lila I'll get you out of those old clothes." Mercury said patting her shoulder.

"Ok…" Lila said nervously grabbing Richter's hand.

Chrome looks at Richter and Lila as Richter was slowly bringing her in the ship. "Wow…I've never seen Richter act so…elegant"

"First time for everything. Blade said crossing his arms.

_**What's your element?**_

Moments later everyone was in the castle inside the dining hall. Richter and Lila were in new clothes. Richter had on his regular clothes.  
>Richter: Don't all cartoon characters do? *giggle*<br>Ahem! Lila had on a brown sweater and black pants wearing black boots. Richter gets up and looks around, like a little boy in a candy store.

"Wow!" Richter was amazed looking around climbing on the walls and looking at the chandelier. "Shiny….it's so pretty! The buttresses are so old! Stone structure is…WHA!" Richter starts floating in the air and slowly coming down from the wall. Chrome was brining him down with his **Gravity hold**. When Richter was finally on the ground Chrome walks up to Richter and touches his forehead making him sit in the chair unable to get up.

"Stay" Chrome said making Richter whine like a dog Lila looks at Richter giggling.

"So Chrome, you and your brother saved my children from the nith metal?" Darcy asked

"That's right!" Richter said happily "No need to thank us. We were just doing our job" Darcy giggles and looks across from the table looking at Sonic and back at Richter. "So you're the queen? There are so many questions I have for you. Like…..is it true that you guys are weakened by garlic?"

Darcy tilts her head in confusion. "Why would a vegetable hurt any of us? Though our strong sense of smell is sensitive to strong odors, so in away garlic can be a hindrance.

"Ok…." Richter said scratching his chin. How about water? Bet it burns you at the very touch!

"That's absurd." Zerach answered "Without water how would we bathe?"

"And he also has the light element so holy water wouldn't hurt him" Chrome stated

"Oh…..What about this?" Richter brings out a holy cross. "This rosary must be a terrible thing to look at huh?"

"Why do you have that?" Chrome asked

"I have a life outside of you!"

"What's a rosary?" Darcy asked taking the cross. "My, this is a lovely looking trinket by the way. What does it do?"

"Well scratch that out. But a wooden stake and hammer through the chest is a guarantee killer, right?"

"Anyone can die from a wooden stake impaled through their chest, son." Zerach said chuckling "However with us, wooden stakes have no effect."

"Unless the stake was made out of nith metal" Sonic added

"I don't feel comfortable talking about your weaknesses to them" a blue ferret got out of his seat. "They are nothing but cold blooded pirates."

"Not true!" Richter said getting up. "I'm a mammal therefore I'm warm blooded."

"Now, now Samuel, don't be quick to judge, he saved your siblings from danger." Zerach said. "Plus if they did do anything to hurt us, Darcy would send them all screaming into the abyss where they will be tortured for the rest of their lives. Ha ha ha!

"Not out loud, Zerach" Darcy giggled

The raiders just stare at the two as they were laughing. "Sent to the abyss,, Heh heh hunnnn" Richter made a nervous grunt sound after laughing.

"Since you children have had such an exposure to nith metal, though you have survived I'm afraid your powers need time to recuperate. I believe you've taken notice to this before." Darcy asked

"That would explain why we can't make any cloaks." Sonic said.

"It shouldn't take long for them to come back now that you're home."

"That's good"

"So…you weren't trying to make it rain?" Richter asked

"Richter" Chrome said "Why don't you take Lila back to the ship and give her some food or something"

"What? why?" Richter asked

"Excuse me?" Richter turns way from Chrome to look at Lila. "I…I wouldn't mind if you took me on board to eat…..since I'm going to be stay there" She said nervously

"What?" Chrome said in shock.

"EEP!" Lila grips Richter by his vest closing her eyes with tears seeping out. " I'm sorry I'm sorry! I'll leave! I won't bug you and…"

"What's wrong with her?" Amy asked with deep concern.

"She's very shy around guys, Chrome!" Richter said glaring

"Oh…sorry." Chrome looks away.

"So why is she holding on to you?" Sonic asked. Lila's face turns red as she let's go of Richter's vest"

"I'm not sure Blue boy" Richter said. "Not that I'm complaining. Maybe she likes the hot cakes I gave her. I mean come on! Who can resist a hot cake from Don's?" Darcy looks at Lila giggling.

"I didn't know Soleanna was crime infested" Sonic said "This place was so peaceful. With the rise of criminal activity we need to be more prepared."

"Especially if there are more criminals like Grapple around who know about our weakness." Amy added.

"Well, you are already a kick butt, wind user?" Richter said patting Sonic's back

"Everyone keeps saying user this and user that…what the heck is a user?" Knuckles asked

"Wow bro….that's like grand mafia 101" Richter said

"Perhaps I should explain." Zerach said getting up. "Sonic, have you noticed a small change in your abilities to fight?"

"Yeah. Not only am I faster but I feel more connected to the wind than I've ever been. But, what does that have to do with anything"

"Because, what is happing to you is no mere coincidence, you are becoming one with your element. You see, throughout time many mobians alike have been able to become one with one or two different part of nature. For example, you've seen what powers I have and what Darcy can do, right?"

"I thought was just some fancy light show." Sonic shrugged

"Believe me, it was not for anyone's amusement, it was simply using my connection to the element of light to work in my favor.

"So..That means I'm one with **wind**."

"Correct."

"What do you expect? He's the fastest thing alive" Amy said hugging him.

"But just imagine what will happen once you become even more of a master than you already are" Darcy continued. "All of you have an element you are becoming one with. Tails, you unlocked your element of** fire** when you first turned into a Cramoisi."

"I thought as much" Tails said igniting his hand with a yellow flame.

"I would think his would be wind" Knuckles said.

"Knuckles, you and Amy are connected to **earth,** as well as **fire**"

Typical" Sonic said chucking

"What was that?" Knuckels asked punching his fist together

"Nothing."

"What about me, mother?" Rouge asked

"You don't know it yet Rouge, but I can see in your nature that you possess **sound"**

"Sound? Not bad"

"Shadow, through your hardships and trials in the past it has made your heart ache yet strong. Thus you have been given the element of **Darkness**" Darcy informed

"Tch. As it should be" Shadow says smiling and crossing his arms.

"Although some people don't develop darkness, sometimes they are born with it." Chrome added

"Cosmo, you and Blaze already know your elements. Hers speaks for itself and yours is** Plant**"

"And I feel so much more connected to them now that I've changed" Cosmo added

"How about me?" Silver asked

"You Silver don't have a specific element, however you're carefree yet concentrated nature has made you connected to **gravity**"

"Concentrated? Silver?" Blaze asked scratching her head.

"Hey! I'm well concentrated!"

"I don't see me having an element." Rocky said "I've seen Cream do something, but not me"

"Oh yeah, I remember. When we were in the aquatic base, I did…something to the guards, I was even able to heal Jayden."

"You Cream, your soul is pure as well as your heart. These are common traits to those who have the **light** element" Zerach explained "As for you Rocky, you have not yet found your connection but give it time. You will find it sooner than you think."

"Ok, Father" Rocky said smiling

"Juile, do you have an element?" Knuckles asked

"Oh, I don't think so" Julie said. "I'm not one with any forms of nature at all.

"EHH! WRONG!" Richter said coming in between them, while messing with Julie's hair. "What do you call these metal pieces in your hair and this arm? Mmmm?"

"Wow Richter, are you always this crazy?" Tawny asked

"He's right" Darcy stated "Though beyond her control, Julie has adapted to an element that very few ever receive. You Julie have **steel**, a very rare but not unheard of element."

"With the robiean rate increasing, it won't be rare soon." Richter was still feeling Julie's hair and metal arm."

"I'm giving you three seconds, Richter" Knuckles cracks his namesake looking at Richter dead in the eyes.

"Well!" Richter lets go of Julie. " Someone is crabby" Richter grabs Knuckles's dreads and pulls them. "Yours is all soft and furry. How can someone like you have the earth element?"

"OW OW! Quit it!"

"See? I told you he was gay" Tawny whispered to a few other Cramoisi.

"As I was saying, you all have or will have your very own element that will benefit you in the battle against our enemies. As for some who still don't have an element, give it time. Zerach finished

"Zerach and I will do whatever it takes to make sure you children will improve your skills as well." Darcy added "And you shall pass it on to others."

"Dig it blue boy, you'll be a master like me. " Richter said coming up to Sonic hugging him by the shoulder. 'Picture it, your own academy with students learning from you wanting to learn from the master of faster."

"I wouldn't say that, but It's good to hear there's more to this story than just biting people." Sonic said

"Oh heavens no, child; as one of the knights of the Cramoisi it is up to you to protect your brothers and sisters from the blue agents of the shroud, and to those they have an alliance with. This grand mafia seems to want the end of us, as well as the cobalt shroud.

"That's where we come in; your highness" Chrome reminded

"Of course, I also expect masters such as yourselves to help my children perfect their elements" Darcy asked

"Well I may have to remove some things from my planner but….OW! Hey! Can you stop making him hurt me?" Richter said shouted up ward

"We would be honored, Madame Darcy" Chrome said happily

"Good. Now Knuckles, I understand you are trying to go to back to Spagonia…for your emerald"

"Yeah! I need to get it back pronto!" Knuckles said.

"Very well." Darcy gets up and walks over to Sonic and puts her hand over his head. A dark aura shrouds her hand, then a purple hood forms around Sonic's head from the top all the way to the bottom, covering his body in a purple veil.

Sonic looks in awe at his new purple cloak that covered his body, but still left the front of his body visible. "Sweet…but this one doesn't seem different from the ones we always wear.

"That's because it's not. However I have just shown you a new way to summon it. This way is a lot faster and more efficient. While focusing all your radiant dark power through your hand you can create a veil that is just as effective as you would summoning one from a dark cloud."

"Alright then" Knuckles puts his hand over his head as his hands glows purple. Then a purple cloak slowly covers him from head to toe just like Sonic. "As soon as night falls I'm going back to the city."

"So determined" Chrome said crossing his arms.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing at all, I'm just simply pointing it out"

"Well, there is still a few hours left. Why don't you guys hang around the castle" Sonic asked.

"Yes!" Jem said jumping "Show me, Show me! (I want to look at what might me my new home)

_**Affinity**_

Moments later everyone was scattered across the castle. Shadow and Rouge were walking with Sonic and Amy.

"So…it looks like the raiders are enjoying themselves." Sonic said looking at the dark gray sky. "Do you think any of them are evil, Shadow"

Shadow stops walking and looks at Sonic with a cold stare. "There's something about him….all of them."

"Oh come on Shadow! His story seems clean. So why are you still questioning him."

"He means there's something different about them" Rouge said

"I've noticed a few things when I look at them, I don't know why, but their something familiar about them, like I've met them from somewhere."

"You sound as trusting as ever Shadow" Sonic said sarcastically. "Ever since Eggman bit the big one, it's been hard for you to trust anyone, even new members."

"But haven't you found it strange that we couldn't find any heart readings on them?" Amy asked "Normally we could tell what kind of person they are just by reading their blood, but I can't see their blood at all, it's like its invisible. "

"You tasted Richter's blood right?' Shadow asked "What was it like?"

"It was kind of hard to tell. It was sweet, but that's about it, it was like licking the pot after Cream makes a cake"

"That doesn't tell us anything at all" Shadow said harshly

"Nothing else?" Rouge asked

"Nope. We could try biting the others and see." Amy suggested

"Bad idea" Sonic said "If we can't read their blood there's no telling what could happen to them. If Richter is good and we accidently kill someone, we can kiss your alliance with him good-bye."

The four of them were silent for a brief moment until Amy broke it. "Mmmm…."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm hungry' Amy said while rubbing her stomach.

"You're kidding?" Rouge asked

"No."

"Humph!" Shadow turns away from Sonic. "Fool'

"Come on, Sonic. Let's go into town" Amy grabs Sonic by the arm and pulls him into a nearby purple portal.

"Come on Shadow" Rouge said

"Forget it, he can find his own dark heart"

"That wasn't a request" Rouge pulls Shadow's arm and him through the portal as it disappears.

Amy and Sonic arrive at the city when the sun was setting. Amy felt the sun burning her skin, but Sonic makes a dark cloud from his hand on Amy's forehead making a cloak cover her body, and also makes one for him too. "Thanks Sonikiu" she giggled

"No problem, Ames"

Shadow and Rouge show up behind the two, wearing their cloaks as well. They were all on a rooftop looking at the people below. "Hey, you guys came along!"

"Not like I had a choice." Shadow said

"Oh hush. So Sonic, found any evil hearts around, theft, rape, murder?"

"Mmmm….no.." Sonic looks around with his **bloodseaking vision**, looking directly at the blood that flows through the unsuspecting people. However, not one of the blood webs was black nor grey. "All are normal"

"Are you serious?" Shadow asked

"He's right" Rouge said "I don't sense any dark hearts anywhere"

"WAIT!" Amy shouted pointed near an ally "There! I can sense a few over there"

"Then let's go!" Sonic speeds off in that direction.

"Wait up!" Amy dashes off at almost the same speed as Sonic. Rouge follows and so does Shadow. When they reach the Ally they see someone grabbing one person and biting on his neck. It was a black hedgehog with a green hoodie. The man he was biting was thrown on the ground and turned to dust. The hedgehog turns around and shows that it was Dwayne. Dwayne looks at the four and looks away.

"Hey…aren't you….Dwayne was it?" Sonic asked

"Scorch told he you were one of our brothers" Shadow said

"Humph! I have no relation towards any of you" Dwayne said still looking away. "If you're looking for some food, you're too late I already finished off the last one."

"Dang" Sonic swings his head down in disappointment. Amy looks around the Ally and sees all the garbage and trash sniffing around.

She smells around and sees an old box, that was set up to look like an enclosed bed. Amy can see a wad of newspapers and an old filthy fitted sheet. Amy looks under the wad and sees a shining orange stone. "What's this?" She wondered. The stone was diamond shaped that was a bit jagged but was still shining brightly. "Dwayne, is this yours?"

"Hell no." Dwayne said looking. "I'll be on my way"

"Hey hold on, don't you want to hang out? We're both alike after all."

"No thanks" a large pair of wings spread from his back and he takes to the sky.

"Well…he's as charming as ever" Sonic said crossing his arms. "So, what do you think that stone is?"

"I don't know…." Amy said looking at it.

"What are we going to eat now? There are no more black hearts left in the city" Rouge asked

"Brother!" Sonic and the others see another person in the same purple cloak as them. She uncovers her hood to show a black and orange raccoon. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Uhh…who are you again?" Sonic asked

"It's me, **Elena**! I was turned along with my boyfriend** Joaquin** after our village was destroyed."

"Oh yeah. I remember. What's up?"

"I just came here to…get some dinner." A pair of fangs seeps out of her mouth saying that last part. "You want to join me?"

"Good luck finding a dark heart" Rouge said. "Mr. Sunshine took the last one"

"Shoot. Guess I have no other choice." Elena looks in the city and sees a sleeping man on the bench. She smiles and makes a sigh like hiss. "A lazy bum, perfect"

"Hey wait!" Sonic stops her by holding her shoulder. "You can't bite just anyone. He's not even evil"

"He doesn't have to be...so long as he satisfy my blood affinity"

"You're what?" Shadow asked

"You don't know? Boy...and you guys are the ones who've been Cramoisi the longest. Alright listen, other than people with evil hearts, we Cramoisi may crave a certain nature in mortals. Kind of like picking out your favorite ice cream."

"Hold on, so we can drink the blood of others?" Sonic asked

"Yes. But not just anyone. The mortal has to have a certain nature that you like. That is what you call a blood affinity. For example, mine is sloth; lazy people, dead beat husbands.

"So..what's mine?" Sonic asked

"Oh…" Elena looks around and sees the man getting up. "You'll have to find out for yourself! My dinner's getting away!" Elena runs off.

"Find out for myself?" Sonic groans and slaps his face.

"Mmmmm….." Amy out of the Ally and watches Elena staring at the man.

Elena was looking deep into the man's eyes. The man's eyes were glowing ruby violet as he was staring into Elena's eyes. Elena smiles while giggling. "Listen…I'm feeling very hungry at the moment, could you help me?"

"Sure thing, sister" The man said in a normal tone. Elena lures him into the same alleyway. Sonic and the others were looking closely.

"Now, lower your head." The man lowers his head and tilts his neck. Elena opens her mouth and bites the man's neck and drinks the blood. After a few seconds Elena pulls from the man's neck gasping for breath (though not needed) and slowly licks where she bit him. The bite marks slowly heal up and disappear.

"Is that all, sister?" the man asked

"That will be all. You can rest now"

The man lets out a sigh before falling asleep. Elena picks him up and sets him of the wall. "And that's all there is to it. Just be sure not to suck too much so the mortal doesn't die. As I said, you need to find out what your affinity is.

"How?" Sonic asked

"Like I said, you have to _find_ out. But you'll know the feeling once you find the mortal nature that makes your instinct go crazy. You might lose control, but once you get your first taste it won't happen again.

"So all I have to do is find what triggers my instinct. Doesn't sound…." Sonic felt a pulse in his head as did the other Cramoisi. When the Cramoisi feel a certain pulse in their head, it normally means that Darcy is calling them back.

"Looks like we'll have to find out later, we got to head back to the castle." Rouge and Shadow jump up in the air and fly away.

"Oh man! And I was hungry too!" Amy complained

"Don't worry, will see what's going on and come back later to learn about his affinity." Sonic jumps in the air and flies up as did Amy.

_**Next Target**_

Somewhere far off where the Cramoisi were, on an island far from the coast, in a large building, Klaus was sitting in his chair looking at a large scroll. He was studding the scroll very closely at the ancient glyphs and markings. Next to him was a map of the world he was looking at both the map and the marks on the scroll. "The gates have been triggered, and the creatures are seeping out, but only at night is when they are active" He thought. "So far we have gathered many of its pieces, but it's still not enough for him to be whole'

"Master" Klaus looks up and sees one of his agents wearing a red and blue robe.

"What is it, Pyraz?

"After the result of…Termonos' defeat I would like to take point in our next operation. Roomers tell of a large airship spotted in Spagonia matching the description of the Blue Typhoon."

"Excuse me?"

"Uhh..the aircraft that belongs to one of the technician Cramoisi; Miles Tails Prower"

"Ahh…that yellow fox I saw back at the base. Oh, how I find it useful that the commander knows so much about our enemy. It's too bad that the one commander they called their friend is now working for me."

"Truly a feet to be recognized by your marvelous power, my lord. If you please allow me to make up for Termonos' error and commandeer the vessel so that we may obtain it's power source"

"Power source? The master emerald."

"As long as we have that gem, we will become unstoppable, not even the chaos emeralds will be a match for us."

"Pyraz, do not waste anymore time! Go to spagonia, seize the ship and give me that emerald! Post haste!"

"Yes, master" Pyraz instantly disappears in a vortex of fire.

Klaus gets up and looks out the window. "That fool Fear doesn't know what she's getting herself into. Now she's gone that ingrate. No matter, I only need a little more time to wake up the **creature deep within the earth's core**. Once I've done that….my kingdom shall be restored, and I will damn Darcy and the rest of those Cramoisi to hell.

(((((TBC)))))))

Who is Klaus trying to bring back? And who is this girl Richter found? Will Sonic find his particular blood taste? All questions will be answered next time!

Shadow: Humph! We finally get some time away from those crazy pirates, but now we have to babysit even more newbie, this is really irritating. Meanwhile we find some danger when we go back to Spagonia to find out more about this Dark Gaia, and the master emerald. Sonic and I also discover a way so we will no longer kill our victims. But just what kind of mortal nature do we find tasteful

Next time: Blue's Rage; Return to Spagonia

Shadow: The shroud will not get the best of me.


	8. Colbalt's Rage: Return to Spagonia

After a moment Sonic and the others were back at the castle. They saw Richter and the other dusk raiders were about to leave.

"Well camicamlanders" Richter said still getting the name wrong. "We're heading back to our ship. We'll be taking of tomorrow morning. "Rogues, transform and roll out!"

"What?"everyone looks at Richter blankly.

"Just kidding! But seriously, let's move!"

"Hey Richter?"

"Yeh-yus?" Richter asked looking back as the others were leaving.

"How…did you get eaten by that large lion thing anyway?"

Richter smile disappears when he hears that. "Well…the thing is…." Richter imagines himself and Lila in a chibi (small) anime themed flashback.

"I rescued Lila from a runaway train. (See last chap of OD) After that me and her were talking, then I started speeding back to the castle, but then my gear ran out of power. I must have over heated the engine during that last gravity dive. Anyway, Lila was still too weak to walk so I carried her through the jungle, then this lion shows up out of nowhere. I tried to fight it, but I was too weak from trying to stop the train. I could barely stand a chance. But sadly, my body then gave on me. I feel on my back. After that, everything goes dark. Next thing I know I see all of you looking at me when I was all slimy."

"Wait. You _and_ Lila were eaten. How on earth did she get eaten?"

"I…I'm not really sure"

"She had a chance to run away and let you get eaten, so why didn't she?"

"I really don't know. Just be happy we're both safe, blue boy. Anyway, time for me to split. See ya in the morning" Richter walks out of the room waving at Sonic.

"Quite a mystery isn't it, Sonic?"

"WHA!" Sonic sees Darcy right behind him and takes a few steps back. "Whoa mother, you could have given me a heart attack"

"A what?" Darcy asked tilting her head

"It's when your heart….never mind. So what's s up?"

"Isn't it strange how this Lila, stood by Richter, not caring what would happen to her?"

"Yeah?"

"Interesting thought, anyway come with me and I shall explain."

_**Chapter 8**_

_**Cobalt's Rage, Return to Spagonia **_

_**New kid on the block **_

Many of the Cramoisi were in the throne room talking amongst each other. The talking dies down when Darcy comes walking in the room and walking over to where Zerach stood. Sonic walks over and stands next to Amy and they all pay attention to the king and queen.

Zerach starts by clearing his throat. "As you all know, we fought a large fleet of unidentified monsters."

"The Dark Gaia spawn?" Tails asked

"No.." Darcy said

"These monsters are different in comparison, but are just as cold and heartless as the spawn" Zerach said "Born from the very evil of the world. They come from evil in peoples hears and manifest into visible creatures who only know destruction."

"What are they?"

"We don't know, all we do know is that they come from these pools of darkness that have been showing up in many places."

"We have reason to believe that they come from the very evil that lives in the hearts of mortals."

"Are you serious?" Sonic asked "How in the world would there be monsters born from the evil inside others?"

"Everyone has darkness in them. It's natural." Shadow added

"Does that mean there's no way to stop them?" Amy asked

"Years ago, before my time, as your queen, my mother and the Cramoisi by her side fought against these creatures. They would battle against them for what seemed like centuries. Finally, we were victorious about a few years before I was born. It wasn't a difficult battle for my mother and her family, however it was the longest that will be recorded in our history"

"So how did the past queen beat them?" Shadow asked

"I'm afraid I do not know. The event occurred before I was born. All I know is my mother defeated them, and a few days after I was born she….." Darcy stops talking while looking down.

"She what?" Sonic asked

"I…don't know how she defeated them, nor do I know how they came back. "

"As if the shroud and the dark gaia spawn weren't enough to worry about" Silver sighed

"Worry not. The these creatures are not that big a threat. Not like the shroud." Zerach said "I know of them through my ancestry. My family has had its share in this battle."

"That just gives us more time to find the ring" Shadow said

"_I wonder if Tikal knows anything about this?"_ Sonic thinks to himself

"Now" Darcy walks down from her throne and looks at Sonic and his friends. "I've noticed that some of you have not found your desired blood nature yet, your blood affinity if you will"

"I wonder who that is?" Knuckles asked. Sonic and Amy look away.

"Let's not worry too much about that, your time to learn what it is will come. Now then, I have something for all of you." Darcy lifts her hands and makes a large crystal appear in front of Sonic and the others. The others look in amazement at the stone in front of them. The crystal then shatters into multiple parts. The parts were floating in the air, and then fly over to the hands of Sonic's friends.

"What are these?" Tails asked

"So pretty" Cosmo said.

"You are all aware of the stone you saw Sonic and Shadow have, right?" Zerach asked

"Jema" Sonic said

"Indeed, how did you know?"

"That's what Richter called it"

"Mmm..interesting"

"So he does know what he's talking about from time to time" Rouge said

"What? So we all got Swords now?" Blaze asked

"I think it'd be kind of cool" Sliver said looking at his

"Oh, not just swords, my friends" Zerach said

"These Jema will transform into whatever weapon they were made to be. I crafted this myself and mached their attribute to your elements. "

"Cool!" Amy said looking through hers

"What about us?" Saphron asked

"Yeah! I want one too" Jayden said jumping

"Calm yourselves" Zerach said "You need to find out what your element is before you can get a weapon"

"Ok, so how do we do that?" Tawny asked

"That you will have to find out on your own"

"Ah dang it!"

"Bummer" Saphron said

"*sigh*" Jayden looks down "I know I have eternity, but I'm tired of waiting"

"Ok, Ok so we know about the monsters and how _not _completely dangerous they are, and getting these cool stoney weapons . Can we get back to important matters at hand" Knuckles said tapping his foot. "Like getting back the master emerald"

"Mother!" everyone turns around and sees Scorch and Mist burst through the door. "We got a problem!"

"UGH!" Well someone had better be dying!" Knuckles shouted, but suddenly gasped at what he was seeing.

He saw a young red coyote with a white shirt and jacket and blue pants wearing a beret and a young blue mouse wearing a black shirt and pants with black mascara. Both carrying people in the room.

"Actually, there is someone…who fits that discretion, brother" said the mouse. She was carrying a black and white rabbit who had on a red tank top and blue pants.

The coyote was helping in a white rabbit with a blue coat and a blue pants. The rabbit was breathing hard, and it was a hard time for him to stand. "Bring them in,** Alvess** (Al-ves) "

They walk up to Darcy and Zerach. The mouse puts the Black rabbit down who had their eyes opened half way and barley breathing, the white rabbit kneels down on the floor panting. Cosmo quickly runs over and puts her hands over the black rabbit, while Zerach puts his hand on the white rabbit. They were both trying to heal them.

"What happened?" Darcy asked

"We were on our way back when we saw them in the forest like this." The mouse explained

"This is not good" Cosmo said trying to heal the one of the rabbits. "She's barely hanging on. In another minute she might..."

"We need to get Alice!" Amy said

"There's no time. She's been like this for far too long" Cosmo said

"Help…her…" Sonic heard the white rabbit barely speak. "Please….save...her…please…."

"Steady your voice, son. You've been injured in a vital spot." Zerach said holding his shoulder

Sonic looks at the white rabbit breathing hard trying to hang on. and the black rabbit whose breathing was getting slower by the minute. He then turns and looks at Darcy who gives him a light nod. He turns back and walks over to the black rabbit and kneels down.

"Don't get too close she's still.." Cosmo tried to warn

"Don't worry" Sonic said looking down looking at the rabbit. The rabbit turns her eyes over to Sonic. They were slowly getting close to closing. "What's your name?"

"**I..I…Iris," **The rabbit said strained.

"Iris…I can save you, but once you take this step, there's no turning back." The rabbit looks at the other rabbit who was looking at her.

"What….are you going to do to her?" the rabbit asked

Sonic smiles while showing his fangs. "We're going to save you both. If you care for her, you have to follow her as well. Are you up for it?"

The rabbit looks at Sonic and then the other Cramoisi, and finally at the black rabbit who gives him a light nod. He nods back and looks at Sonic. "Please, save her"

"Smart choice" Sonic walks over to him, as Zerach backs away.

"Well if it is the only way.." Cosmo said smiling.

"Sonic, Cosmo, do it" Darcy ordered

They both nod, and move their heads close to the rabbit's shoulders while moving the shirt , to bite them."

"Hey how come I was never bitten?" Tawny asked

"You were dead" Shadow said coldly.

When they were done the two rabbits start grunting in pain then followed by light screaming as their bodies slowly went through the changes. Their bodies were jerking up and down on the ground as they were glowing a bright crimson red.

"Man….this is almost scary to watch." Tawny said

"Almost?" jayden asked her

First, their skin and fur starts to get paler, white claws rip out from under their gloves, and their fangs grow longer in their mouths. They finally let out a final shout of pain with two wings grow out from both of their backs. They lay back to let out one last gasp of air and fall unconscious.

"Well, that was fun to watch." Tawny said smiling.

Sonic looks at their arms as the Ruby violet glyph appears on them, marking them as full-fledged Cramoisi. "Heh, guess that's that"

"Now Knuckles" Darcy said walking up to him. "About going to Spagonia"

"Yeah, I didn't mean any…"

"You may go immediately. Just bring some of your sibilings with you"

"Oh…uhh…great!" Knuckles said smiling

"Hey has anyone seen Rocky and Cream?" asked Blaze

"They wanted to say on the ship so Cream could catch up with her mom and Rocky could catch up with Richter" said Rouge

"Well Brother, what are we going to do about finding info on Light Gaia or the whereabouts of Father's Ring?" Blaze asked

"There's only one man who would know anything about Light and Dark Gaia… We need to head back to Spagonia with Knuckles." said Tails

"Without the Blue Typhoon it will take us longer to get there" said Shadow

"Do you think that's going to be a huge problem?" Everyone turns around and sees Dwayne walking in the room.

"Dwayne? What are you doing here?" asked Sonic

"So this is Dwayne.." Darcy says looking at him.

"Queen Darcy, I presume?" Dwayne asked "You seem a little more shorter than I expected"

"Hey! You will talk to your mother with more respect!" one of the other Cramoisi said

"She's not my mom. As far as I see, she's just another vampire"

"How dare you!"

"Thank you Samuel. I'll take it from here" Darcy walks up to Dwayne. "Welcome, to what do I owe this visit by you?"

"Your drones keep coming to me calling me telling me you're my mother"

"Drones?" Sonic repeated "That hurts"

"Let me make something clear; I'm not your son, you're not my mother they aren't my siblings. I am an only child. Both my folks are dead, and nothing you do or say will convince me"

Everyone was just staring at the two. Darcy looks at Dwayne and he looks at her. There was a long silence "You know, I only asked why you came here. I did not say that you were my child; I wasn't even trying to convince you that you were mine. I only asked why you came here" Dwayne stares at Darcy but then looks away. He didn't know why but he felt a little awkward talking to Darcy who just called him out. "We Cramoisi are open to all those who have no evil or sinister intent. We let them enter our realm with, even those who aren't apart of your family. One of the reasons why we welcomed in the dusk raiders."

"Well….ummm…I heard that some of you were heading to Spagonia, Right? Well…. I'm going too." Dwayne said in a slightly nervous tone

"Uh-huh" Darcy said nodding

"I need to take care of some unfinished business. Some of Grapple's goons still might be in the city, so you guys can get your fill of black hearted blood."

"How splendid!" Darcy said smiling. "It just so happens we have new children who were just born, and they are going to be hungry."

"I'm not babysitting"

"You really are quick to judge aren't you? Again, All I'm saying is that your timing couldn't be better. My children will look after the newborns. You may do as you please"

"Well…alright then" Dwayne said a little unsure.

"Sonic, I want you to go with Mr. Dwayne along with Knuckles"

"Alright then!" said Sonic. Who else is going?"

"I'll go" said Shadow "I didn't get much to eat."

"I'll go with you Shadow" said Rouge

"I haven't had much action. Let me come too" said Scorch

"Me t-t-too" said Mist

"I need to get the Blue Typhoon" said Tails

"Oh NO! You're staying here with me!" said Cosmo

"What? Wait I!"

Cosmo wraps Tails around with her vine made from the cracks in the castle floor. "Now Now. Big brother sonic can get the ship no problem. Now come here I want you and I to have some fun" said Cosmo grabbing Tails and taking him back to the rooms.

"I'm coming too" Amy said

"Me too" Rouge stated

"I'll sit this one out" Said Alvess "Ashley do you want to stay?"

"Whatever" the blue mouse said sighing.

"Alright, we'll be back Mother" said Sonic

"Wait" said Darcy "I think it's time for your siblings to wake up"

"Wait a second, my love" Zerach said having another Cramoisi pick up the white rabbit. I wish to awaken this boy, and give him his training myself"

"Very well, sweetie. Sonic will take care of the rest." Darcy walks over to Iris. "Iris, please wake up"

Iris' eyes shoot open, that were now bright red violet. She gets up from the ground and lets out a big yawn looking at Darcy and kneels down in front her.

"I am at your service, Queen of Dark radiance" she said

"Rise child, say hello to your new siblings." Darcy said with a smile

"Whoa…" She slowly gets up shaking her head. "Man…I feel kind of dizzy"

"Be easy child, you are a newborn. I know it's a little early but now I wish for you to get acquainted with your new self."

"Sure thing. I just need to..*grunt*" Iris shakes her head still feeling dizzy. "Ok, I'm fine"

"Take it easy there, kid" said Sonic keeping her from falling.

"Thanks big brother! By the way, where's **Damien**"

"Are you talking about the white bunny?" Sonic asked

"Yeah, were is he?"

"Worry not. Zerach is watching over him. Right now it's best that you go out with your siblings and learn our ways."

"Ok mother." Iris walks over to the group about to leave.

"Welcome sister." said Amy "Are you ready?"

"Yup! Show he the first black heart and I will drain him dry!"

"Wonderful, now that your done hugging and kissing, can we go?" Dwayne asked

"I agree with grouchy" Knuckles said crossing his arms.

"Wow, you two make a good couple" Sonic then makes a red-violet portal with his metal black glove. The group of Cramoisi walk through the portal

"Good luck children, and Dwayne" Darcy said smiling. "That Dwayne, he's quite the aggressive one."

"Are you sure we should trust him?" Alvess asked

"I know he is different, but he will soon understand how much closer he is to us than he thinks. Give it time, he'll come around"

_**Shroud on the Hunt**_

Already in Spagonia, two hooded figures stood over the city. "Look at them" Said the red one in his hood. "Unaware of what's in store for them."

"Keep your eyes on the prize, Pyraz." Said the man standing next to him lisping.

"You will address me without attitude, Termonos." Said Pyraz. "Be grateful I was able to convince master to give you another chance. Now listen up, I want you to commandeer this ship of theirs while I find these bloodthirsty leaches."

"Aren't you the one who is to find the ship?" Termonos asked

"I have a feeling I'll be visiting some old friends; the dusk raiders." Now do as you're told"

Suddenly Pyraz was grabbed by the throat by Termonos. "Know that I am in the same level in authority as you are, Pyraz. Do _not_ order me around like some low life minion. I will get the ship, only because I see it fit" he throws him down on the roof and turns around. "Happy hunting" He then runs off and jumps from rooftop to rooftop.

Pyraz gets up rubbing his neck, coughing. "One day I will be" Pryaz says jumping off the building.

The small group of Cramoisi where flying back to the city. The moon was high in the sky and was glowing a bright light.

"Wow, it feels so relaxing flying like this." said Iris

"With the moon, shining in the sky, feeling it is like a soothing bath of light." said Shadow

"Aww how poetic, Shakespeare" said Sonic

"I thought it was sweet!" said Rouge

"We're getting close to the city." said Scorch

"Alright you ready Iris?" asked Sonic

"Yup! I still can't believe that I'm rushing into things"

"Normally we don't do this, but it's a matter of life and death" Knuckles said

"You're large shiny rock is sitting in the harbor and you're afraid someone might take it from the large indestructible, secure star ship. Yeah, a real crisis" Sonic insulted

"That someone, namely the cobalt shroud can break up the ship and take the master emerald; the one thing that can leave all seven chaos emerald powerless." Julie added

"Oh…yeah"

"Thank you, Julie" Knuckles said

Soon they arrived in the city hiding in the shadows of an ally.

"Ok, Scorch Mist want to show Iris the Ropes?" asked Sonic

"Sure thing!" said Scorch "But what will you do?"

"We're going to see the Professor and learn some more info on Light Gaia." Said Amy

"Knuckles, Shadow you and the others look for the Blue Typhon" said Sonic

"Got it!" said Knuckles said

"Whatever" Shadow scoffed

"Oh quit being such a whiney baby and let's go, honey!" said Rouge

"We'll meet up with you guys later." Julie said

I'm going on ahead. I have unfinished business to take care of" said Dwayne

"Alright Dwayne, just don't get caught"

"Humph! Worry about yourselves. I've been doing this longer than you" he said as he flew away

"Wow, he's a bigger grouch than Shadow" Amy said

"Tch" Shadow starts flying to the ship yard. Along with Rouge, Knuckles and Julie.

"Ok, Meet each other in two hours" said Sonic "Is that clear?"

"Yes Big Brother" the three said

"Let's go Amy"

"Ok!" said Amy as they flew off.

OK Iris, Let's go!" said Mist

_((((((Rooftop Run Night: Alleys of Spagonia))))) _

"I catch u-up with y-you guys in a minute" said Mist looking at a large cowed of people. "I, I can f-feel…someone in raged in there. Mist walks over to the crowd.

"Looks like you got flying down, but can you handle being discreet?" Scorch asked walking forward in the large plaza.

"Discreet?" Iris asked walking forward.

"Just following me" Scorch runs forward and jumps up the ceiling tops and onto the roof.

"Just follow him he says" Iris does the same and follows Scorch. They both ran across the buildings, running across streets, climbing ledges and doing it without being seen. Iris was jumping across the buildings with incredible speed. Scorch stops on top of a tall building looking down at another plaza.

"You did good keeping up" Scorch said to Iris

"Thanks" Iris said

"Let's see if you can handle this" Scorch runs off the building doing a sky dive. He then flips his body while in the air and slams on the ground standing on his feet. He then turns around and looks at Iris from above. "Come on this shouldn't be too hard for you"

"You've got to be kidding" Iris said sighing. She then bucks up and jumps down the same way Scorch did and lands on the ground making a small crater.

"Not bad, not bad at all" Scorch said smiling When they reach a city lit plaza, a purple circle shows up and Dark Gaia spawn came crawling out of it. "Alight Iris, let's see what you got. Don't be a afraid if you feel like you can't.."

Iris picks up a pleasing aroma of evil floating in air. She made the first move and attacks the first crawling nightmare coming their way by kicking one in the face and slamming it to the ground with her claws and finally biting it's neck draining it dry.

"Man that was good!" she said.

She sees another one coming at her and grabs it by it's arms and spins it around slamming it into the others knocking them down. She then throws the nightmare in the air and lifts her hand making the creature stop. The creature was floating in the air glowing violet red. She then moves her hand down throwing the beast on the ground, releasing a red pulse of energy that lifts all the other nightmares around her in the air.

Scorch looks in amazement at the power Iris was displaying. "She….She using gravity. And she's good at it!"

"Scorch!" Iris shouted while straining. "Shouldn't there be something you should be doing by now?"

"Huh? Oh Right!" Scorch ignites his hands and aims for the floating monster "Burn like the sun; Combustion star!" he shouted as he threw the ball in the air that unleashes a heat wave that wipes the nightmares burring them to a crisp.

"Ha Ha! Burn baby! BURN!" he said.

Iris sees all the monsters burnt to blackened ashes "What did you do that for? I was still hungry!" said Iris

"Oops sorry. I got carried away. Come on, I think I can smell some more. This way!"

Scorch starts running up the buildings and on to the rooftops. Iris shakes her head and follows him up the to the roof. "Try to keep up, Scorch!" Iris ran ahead and starts flying with her wings over buildings. Scorch just smiles and does the same, but instead of flying he jumps across the rooftops. On their way they see the large clock tower. Iris speeds up and starts climbing up. "Catch me if you can!"

"HEY! We're supposed to be discreet!" Scorch shouted. Iris was still jumping and flying up ward and into the tower. "She's spunky I'll give her that." Scorch runs into the entry of the clock tower. He sees all the gears and mechanics if the tower. "Iris?" Scorch shouted hearing the echoes in the tower. He sighs and starts climbing the tower gear by gear. When he reaches a high elevation, looks around trying to find Iris. "Man this is tall. Why In the world do they even need this thing? Why don't they just carry wrist watches?"

"Well if they did then this town wouldn't be a big attraction." Scorch could see Iris sitting on a spinning gear.

"There you are!"

"What kept you, slowpoke?"

"Me! You were the one who was.."

"Scorch!" Both of them turn around and see Mist coming into the tower through a door. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to keep up with this one" They both fly over to Mist and walk out of the tower.

"R-really? I t-thought y-y-you w-w-were going to show her the r-ropes"

"Ah, he was doing fine." Iris said "I guess I'm just a fast learner.

"Ha ha yeah" Scorch said grabbing her and digs his knuckles in her head. "Little tyke"

"Hey get off!" Iris said pushing him off. "Keep you distance from me, you're like a walking heater.

"I know" Mist said hugging him. "He's so warm"

"Did you find anything interesting?" Iris asked

"After I had my drink, I found s-some guys in t-t-tattoos near the p-p-plaza."

"Were they the Dusk Raiders?" Scorch asked

"I think so. W-what are t-they doing h-here."

"Don't know"

"The dusk raiders are those pirates right?" asked Iris

"Yeah but they are good pirates, I think." said Scorch

"Anyway, so how long until we have to meet up with Sonic?" asked Iris

At that moment, they all heard a loud bell booming in their ears. It was the clock tower ringing.

"I think we have about an hour left!" Iris shouted

"What?" Scorch and Mist shouted back

"I SAID I THINK WE HAVE AN HOUR LEFT!" Iris shouted louder.

"You think we haven't showered when we left?" Scorch asked.

"I THINK…." The clock stops gonging after doing it eleven times. "….we have about an hour left" They look at the tower and start laughing. The look down and see a nearby building with a pool about 50 feet below where they were. They all jump down and land right next to the pool. They then jump down the building and back on the street. "Well this has been fun"

As they were walking they see another hoard of nightmares appeared out of the shadows.

"This night ain't over yet, honey" Scorch said. "Think we have some time before we have to meet with Sonic. "Mist your turn!"

Mist walks forward and closes her eyes. It then starts to get cold; everything around her starts to freeze up. Since Iris was next to Scorch ,who was radiating heat, she wasn't feeling the cold. Mist then moves her hands at the enemies." Absolute!"

"Now for the finishing move!" Scorch's body lights on fire, and he does a jump dash in the air and launches himself at the enemies. "Chaos…Supernova! A large burst of hot energy burns all the enemies, leaving their bodies all over the ground.

"Well that's that let's feast!" said Scorch getting out white seeds from his pocket and throwing them at the enemies. The seeds attach to the bodies of the enemies, turn red, and then start to grow grapefruit sized blood cores. After the monsters turn to ash, the cores movie over to Scorch and the others.

_Rooftop Run ~Alleys of Spagonia~ Stage cleared_

_**Scorch: You're going to fit in just fine in the family!**_

_**Iris: I Know Thank you!**_

_**Gaia History 1301**_

Sonic and Amy were walking around the university. They see some people still walking around, carrying books, sitting down reading, and even playing video games. "Students taking night classes, once things settle down again, we should go to school here." Amy said

"I don't do school, Ames" said Sonic

"Aw come on, Sonic…you don't like school? What if you need a job?"

"We're blood suckers who live in a castle. I think we're fine."

"Yeah I guess"

Suddenly Sonic feels a strange bump in his chest. "What?" He stops moving to look around

"What's the matter?" Amy said looking at Sonic. She too then feels a sudden strange bump in her chest. It was like a strong heartbeat, as they felt it. They look around and see the webs of veins of the people around them. "Sonic…My chest hurts" Amy said strained while gasping.

"Yeah…Mine too" They felt the bump slowly getting harder and harder. "I…I haven't eaten…..OW!"

"I…..I need food!" Amy looks around and sees nothing but the veins of others around her. One in particular stood out to her. Unlike the others, this one was glowing brighter than the others. Sonic could also see another web of veins that was brighter than the others.

Sonic walks over to a man who was walking back to his dorm counting a large wad of cash. "Hee hee hee." The man chuckled while feeling his money. "I knew betting on that racer for the EG grand prix would be a gold mine." He takes a large whiff of his money. "Ahh..money smells good" Sonic slowly walks over to the man with his claws pointed at him The man was still counting his money not paying attention to Sonic who was about five feet from him.

"Where is my brush?" A tall girl was grabbing a smaller student by her shirt. "You better give it to me right now!" Amy sees the two shouting and slowly limps over to her.

"I-I'm sorry….I just needed it for…" The taller girl takes the brush, growls and throws it on the ground. "I can see nits on the brush! What the hell! Are you trying to infect me!"

"No No.." The little girl takes a few steps back. She then sees Amy with her glowing eyes coming closer at the two. "Uhhh..uhhh" The little girl points at Amy trying to warn the taller girl.

"What are you pointing at?"

"Be...Behind you!"

"What?"

Amy stares at the girls with a grin. "Hello girls. I have a favor to ask of you."

"What are you doing?" The taller girl asked rudely

Sonic was almost up to the man. He turns around and sees Sonic who had his head hanging own. "What do you want?"

"You…" Sonic said as a red aura shrouds him. He then looks at the man with a large grin and eyes glowing. The man screams while staring at Sonic, but didn't move. "Your heart is full of greed.

Amy was doing the same staring at the two girls, but pays more attention to the taller girl. "Your wrath….it's calling to me…..I can't help it!"

"Give me you blood!" they both said as their eyes shine violently.

The man's eyes start to glow the same color as Sonic's eyes. He drops his money and kneels down tilting his neck to the side. "Alright brother." The man said calmly. "You look hungry, go ahead and drink" Sonic smiles and quickly runs over and bites the man's neck and starts drinking it.

The taller girl's eyes were glowing as well. She walks up to Amy and kneels down tilting her head. "Please sister, take all you need" she said. Amy walks over and bites her neck.

Moments later Sonic pulls back from the man's neck, and sighs. "Brother, is there anything else you need?" the man asked

"No...you may sleep" Sonic said moving his hand. The man then falls asleep.

"You can rest now, and try to be nicer to people." Amy said smiling

"Yes, sister" The girl falls asleep after Amy was done biting her.

"Well then, now to find Sonic"

"Sister" Amy turns around and sees the smaller girl looking at her with the same red violet eyes. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"oops. I guess my stare must have hit you too." Amy said with a sweat drop. "No, you can re…..actually there is something you can do. Can you take me and my lover to see Professor Pickle?"

"Sure" The girl said while smiling acting normal. "Please follow me"

Sonic sees Amy and the young student leading her into the building. "Hey, I see you got a tour guide."

"She was nice enough to lead us in" Amy said

"Ok, he's through this door" The student said pointing at the door.

"Thanks, you've been a big help. Go ahead and study in piece" Amy said

"Ok sister!" The girl walks off but as she was walking off her eyes stop glowing. "Huh?" She looks around confused. "Where am i…..what just happened?" She then sees the girl who attacked her. "WHA! I'm..I'm sorry about the brush!"

"It's ok" the taller girl said

"huh?" The shorter girl sees the taller one look at her with a bright smile.

"Don't worry about it! Here it's all yours, in fact why don't I brush it for you, we can have a sleepover!"

"Uhh…the girl stares at the taller girl with a sweat drop. "Are you feeling Ok?"

"Come on!" she grabs the shorter girl by the wrist. And takes her back to the dorms.

Sonic and Amy walk into the laboratory and see many books and artifacts.

"Who's there?" said a voice a man.

"Professor?" Sonic looks around the lab looking for someone. Amy then sees an old man in a brown suit and gray hair come up to them.

"Well, isn't this an unexpected surprise?" the man said with a smile. "Sonic is that you?"

"Hey Professor Pickle, Long time no see!" Sonic greeted while coming up to give him a hand shake.

"Well hello there! It looks like you haven't changed much" said the professor shaking Sonic's hand.

"Uhh…Dude….look at me" Sonic flaps his wings and shows his fangs and eyes. "I'm a whole lot different now"

"Well you were a monster when I first saw you anyway. No offense"

"None taken!"

Moments later. The three of them were sitting down drinking tea, and having sandwiches. Sonic explained everything to the Professor. Everything on the Cramoisi, Cobalt Shroud, Dusk raiders and the Criminal Underground, everything that has happened to him up until now.

"So you see that why we came here to see if we can't find Light Gaia." said Amy

"This is quite terrible, the disappearances, the monsters showing up, not to mention my Gaia manuscripts have been stolen " the professor said taking a sip of his tea. "Light Gaia may still be sealed up in the earth."

"Wait? They've been stolen again?" Sonic asked

"Yes. Some of my students who were watching over them somehow disappeared, not only that but the manuscripts were also taken as well."

"It must have been the shroud" Amy said. "What could they want with those dusty old scripts anyway"

Sonic looks at the green ring on his wrist. The same ring that belonged to his best friend Chip: also known as Light Gaia. "So how can we bring Light Gaia back?" he asked

"If what you said was true about these summoning Circles bringing spawn from the depths of the earth, then we would have to do the same for Light Gaia. You must make a summon circle at one of the Gaia gates to bring him back."

"How?" asked Amy. "I mean, Klaus has the manuscripts, how will we know how to make it?"

"By making this circle and it's symbols opposite to that of the dark circle. Once it's made, Light Gaia will return, and he will be able to break the dark circles and stop the spawn from seeping out."

"Well that sounds easy"

"There is one other thing though"

"What's that?" Amy asked

"Do you know some else with the Light element?"

Both Sonic and Amy think for a minute. Were there any of his friends who possess the light element?"

"What about father?" Amy asked

"He says his powers aren't very strong. They sometimes give him a burst of energy, but once that's over he isn't very strong anymore." Sonic explained

"Ok, how about Cream?"

"She's still a learner."

"The user must be at least at a B rank" Professor said

"Dang" said Sonic

"What about the Dusk Raiders?" asked Amy

"Right Then! We have a solution to your dilemma my friends" Sonic and Amy turn around and see Blade and Scarlet.

"Blade, and….. Scarlet?" said Sonic

"Hello guys, fancy meeting you here." Scarlet said happily

"Ah Dusk Raiders, it's so good to see you. How's Richter?" asked the professor

"He's doing fine. Chrome sent us to give you something." said Scarlet handing over an envelope

"Right Then! This is from us complements of the LATE criminal lord Virus Von Grapple" said Blade.

"You killed him?" The Professor asked in shock

"Well actually Chrome and Richter took care of him, but it was his fault he died out of his own greed." said Scarlet.

"Well Excellent! Then that means that Spagonia is free from that wretched Criminal Lord. Well my friends, this is the best news I've heard all day! Tell Richter I said Thank you!"

"Right Then! Can Do!" said Blade

"Blade, what element does everyone in your crew have?" said Sonic

"Well let's see, Chrome has ice, Mercury has gravity, Zenith has lighting, Richter and I have Earth". said Blade.

"I have sound, Jazz has plant, Onyx has Darkness, Jem, Nai, Malcolm and Alice, are cybernetic so they have steel, and Marine's for some reason has Water." said Scarlet

"Hey, doesn't Zoomer have Water too?" asked Amy.

"Yeah. What about Dwayne?" said Sonic.

"Dwayne? I'm not sure. I think he has dark and something else." said Scarlet

"Is there any one with light?" asked Amy

"Oi! What about Rin-Rin?" asked Blade

"Oh, that's Right! Rin-Rin has Light and Ice." said Scarlet

"What rank is she?" Amy asked

"She just got promoted to B last month." Scarlet said "Lucky girl. Took me half a year before I made it to B"

"Well then this is most fortunate. Rin-Rin should have the talent to summon Light Gaia." said the Professor.

"Huh?" Scarlet asked

"How can she do that?" asked Amy

Professor Pickle gets up and looks through his drawers and got out a piece of special green chalk, with a piece of paper. "Go to the Gaia gate located in **Apotos** and write this symbol using this chalk. Then have Rin-Rin channel her light on to the ring on your wrist. The light from that ring will bring back light Gaia."

"Really? Great! Thanks Professor!" said Sonic in an ecstatic tone.

"Why the Apotos Gate?" Amy asked

"That is the first gate in the Gaia gate chain. It is also said that that is the gate were the light shines the most."

"Alright then. We should go. Thanks for all your help professor" Sonic said giving him a thumbs up.

"My pleasure! You've been a big hero for a long time Sonic, I know you can save us. Good Luck"

"Thank you, professor" Amy said smiling

"Don't worry about a thing!" said Sonic.

"You can count on the Dusk raiders. Come on Blade let's…Blade?" Blade was eating the sandwiches and drinking the tea on the table. "BLADE!"

"Oh! Sorry….It's been hours since my last meal" Blade said with a full mouth. "We'll be leaving now"

Everyone leaves the room leaving the professor alone. "_So, Richter and Chrome killed Grapple. This is good for all of us, but they will need to deal with the other Criminal Lords around the world. Compared to them, Grapple is a walk in the park. They will need to give it everything they got to beat them. Good Luck, Sonic, and you to Richter_

_**Return of an old Enemy**_

Shadows group finally reach the harbor to look for the Blue Typhon. Shadow looks around sees many blue agents ganged up around a large ship. Knuckles eyes go wide as he sees a large stone being pulled out of the ship.

"Get your hands off the Master Emerald!" he shouted running after the agents.

"Oh look, it's the little mouse come for his cheese" Termonos said getting out his Tomahawk and throwing a blue gray stone at Knuckles. Julie jumps in the way and gets out a pink Jema that turns into a metallic shield that reflects the rock back at Termonos. *UH! GAH!" The stone hits him in the face with great speed.

"Nice work!" Knuckles complemented

"Thanks!" Julie said smiling

"Barbarians!" Termonos shouted jumping at them with his weapon.

His attacked was blocked by Rouge who was wearing a pair of white and silver greaves. She was blocking the attack with her armored leg while spinning around and kicking Termonos to the ground. "Go get the master Emerald!" Shadow told Knuckles

"We'll cover you" Rouge said

Knuckles gets out a red jema that turn into a pair brass knuckles. (redundant). He sees the agents carrying the emerald and punches one of them in the face while grabbing him and tossing him into the others. More of them came at Knuckles trying to attack him, but he stands his ground by igniting both of his hands with fire. "Whoa! Wasn't able to that before. Alright!" He charges at the enemies with his fist and punches one of the agents making him get blown clean across the harbor into the ocean."AW! Yeah!" He then turns around making a large fire ball. He then smiles at the agents and throws the ball at them knocking them away like a bunch of bowling pins. He sees the emerald and takes it back and runs away with it.

"Stop him!" Termonos said slamming his foot on the ground making rocks come up from the earth.

"Not today!" Knuckles kicks the ground too, making a row of rocks come from out of the ground at Termons' rocks making them both collide stopping them from moving any more. Knuckles then runs way into the city.

"Termons, you should be dead" Shadow said getting out his blade.

"Yes, but master was so kind to bring me back" Termoms laughed. "You see, we Marcoats are born from Master Klaus' power so long as he is alive, we can come back again, and again, as much as he sees fit."

"He must be joking" Julie said

"We just can never get a break today can we?" Rouge sighed

Termonos runs at the Cramoisi with full speed. "I'll kill you all!"

"Chaos Control!" Termonos stops in the middle of his tracks. Shadow walks up to Termonos. "You may have had a chance against that blue hedgehog." Shadow stabs Termonos in the chest, making him scream. He then pulls the sword out and points the gun on the sword at Termonos' head. "I'm different, and not that merciful" He shoots Termonos' head, and he falls on the ground. Termonos' body then disappears into nothing.

"Ha ha! I don't know why Sonic didn't think of that" Rouge said laughing. "Looks like we've taken care of our shroud problem!"

"Yeah. Come on" Shadow looks at the ship and sees that it was damaged. "Its damaged in some vital areas, but it looks like it will carry us as far as Soleanna"

"Wait, Knuckles isn't back yet. Where is he?" Julie wondered

"Rouge and I will stay behind and ready the ship. Go and look for him and others" Shadow said. Julie nods and flies off into the city.

_**The first Dark guardian**_

Sonic and the other were walking into the city looking around for the others.

"So, what's the lovely couple doing out here?" Blade asked

"We're just looking for our old ship, while getting information." Amy answered

"Speaking of which, do you guys have any plans on where you and the rest of the dusk raiders are heading next?" Sonic asked.

"Well it's funny you should…" Suddenly everyone felt the ground rumbling. "What the?"

They then see a large black pool of darkness appear on the ground. Out from the ground came out a large brown bear with gladiator armor, he was breathing hard and looking at the group with glowing yellow eyes.

"Grapple?" Blade said confused

"Imposable!" Scarlet stares at him with a confused look.

"Wait…something's different…" Sonic said "I can feel something darker about him."

"RRAAHHHHH!" the creature shouted while growing larger in size. His body turns purple and his teeth turn into tusk. He grows a larger snout with large teeth and two large horns on his head, his armor became a part of his body, as he got on all fours with his paws turned into large claws. By the time he was done changing he was a large purple beast with horns, claws and a long tail, that makes a shrieking roar.

"What...is that?" Scarlet said backing up

"A midnight snack…that's what" Sonic said smiling and getting out his jema that turns into a blade.

_**(((((Dark guardian fight: Dark Gaia Behemoth)))))**_

The beast lets out a loud roar staring at the four. He stretches his long neck at Sonic about to eat him, but Sonic jumps out of the way and grabs on to his horn. "I've done this before." The beast stops shaking its head and opens its mouth sticking out it's tongue and using it to grab Sonic. And throw him on the ground. Sonic was getting out of the hole groaning in disgust being covered in spit. "Ok… that's never happened before" The beast lifts it's claw and tries to hit Sonic, but Amy jumps in the way and blocks the attack with her hammer.

She was standing over Sonic and looking down at him smiling. "How long do you plan on lying down?" Amy asked

"Sorry" Sonic gets up and swings his sword at the beast's ankle. Making him roar in pain and fall on the ground. Amy gets out a rose pink Jema that turns into another hammer. Only this one was pink and black with a chain at the bottom with a spike at the end. She quickly swings that hammer at the best face. The beast gets up from the ground and shakes it's head looking at Amy with rage and swings his claw at her. Sonic jumps in the air and does a spin dash in the air and hits the beast in the jaw. Amy sees her chance and jumps up and hits him in the chest with her new hammer. The beast takes a few steps back. He looks at them with its mouth glowing purple. It them blows a powerful red beam at them. Amy swings her new hammer at the beam absorbing the attack. Her hammer was glowing brighter and brighter and Amy runs at the beast and swings her hammer at the best face blowing it into a building knocking it down.

The beast gets up in a blinding rage and starts running at the Sonic. Blade gets in the way and stops him with his large arms and pulls one arm back and punches him in the face. Pushing him back, Sonic jumps in at his face and swings his sword at the beast's eyes, blinding him. The beast runs around wild trying to see. Scarlet sees the beast running around and gets out a pistol and shoots it's paw, then shot him in the head, and in the chest. Blade then comes and punches the beast again with his immense strength. The beast it was stumbling; Sonic swings it sword at the beasts chest. Finally, when it falls on the ground Amy then uses both of her hammers to slam the beast on it's body breaking the bones and its body with her hammer. The monster let's out one last weak roar before closing it's eyes.

_((((Dark Guardian Defeated)))))_

_**Sonic: Just like Eggman all bark and no bite!**_

_**Amy: You were so Awesome Sonic!**_

_**Scarlet: I wish Dwayne would have seen that!**_

_**Blade Right then! That takes care of that**_

_**The next Criminal Lord **_

Dwayne was in an alley and beating up thugs who were picking on students.

"Ahhh get away for me!" said the thug

"That's Right keep screaming, all they will find is you pile of dust" said Dwayne as he grabbed the thug and drains him.

The two students were looking at him with fear in their eyes, but at the same time they were grateful. Dwayne then looked at them with a cold stare

"What do want an autograph? Get out of here!" he commanded.

They both ran out of the alley. Dwayne saw one of the thugs trying to get away, but he used his werehog arms to grab him before he had the chance, and drains him dry.

"Yesh…don't eat them all at once" Dwayne turns around and sees a balled mole with a black vest. "It's been too long, master thief"

"You…" Dwayne walks over to the mole. "You're **Bonn **aren't you, one of the underground scavengers of the grand Mafia.

"The one and only, sir' the mole said happily. "On your way out of town? I got some boat and Plane tickets half off. A ton of people were looking for me and my brother trying to get some. So how many?"

"I don't want a ticket. I want you to tell me which Criminal Lord told Grapple about the Shroud."

"Shroud….shroud…..I don't remember" Dwayne gets out a gold coin and gives it to the mole. "Ooooo….14 karat! Mmmm…it's coming back….Yeah yeah….Ok word has it that some of these thugs were going to that criminal lord now. But it was the Imperial leader himself who told him.

"What criminal lord are they going to?"

"I don't know I'm never that kind of guy who learns of my clientele business."

"Just to let you know…this is your last one" Dwayne hands him another gold coin.

The mole bites it and puts it in his pocket. "Where've you been? Everyone knows that they are going to see **Wreak von DonZor**.

"DonZor? The head hunting General?

"Indeed! Hunters like him make Grapple wet his pants. Ne he he he!"

"Where is DonZor now?"

"He's Rendezvousing with another Criminal Lord in **Chun-nan, **at the Phoenix Temple. Funny thing is, there isn't a stronghold there. Maybe they plan on taking the temple?

"Anything else?" Dwayne asked crossing his arms. "Like which Criminal lord he's meeting?"

"No not really"

Dwayne narrows his eyes. "You're looking pretty tasty right now"

"What? Why do you got to be like that? All I know is that many of them are heading to Chum-nan at the moment.

Dwayne sees another mole pop out from the ground. This one had long hair covering his eyes. "Yo, Bonn!"

"Carb! Find anything?" Bonn asked

"Yeah, but I sold it to some pirates"

Hearing that word perks up Dwayne's ears. "What Pirates?"

"Oh..well uhhh….there was this guy totally white echidna with this gray fox and indigo bat."

"Indio bat? Where did they go?"

"How should I know, I was underground…wait...they said something about going to the North Plaza and…"

"I got to go!" Dwayne turns around and jumps in the sky flying

"Dang…You would think that she was his girlfriend or something…" Said carb

"This town is getting crazy. Let's go to another one" Bonn digs underground with Carb not too far behind.

Dwayne flies over head and suddenly feels a chill in the air. He sees a large purple bubble in the city and flies over. He looks and sees Chrome fighting a red robed blue agent. It was Pyraz, who was also controlling a large beast who was being beaten by Knuckles. Chrome finishes off Pyraz in one blow as did Knuckles finishing off the beast. When the large bubble disappears, Dwayne flies over to the area where he sees Scorch, Mist, Iris, and Julie.

"What's going on here?" Dwayne asked

"Chrome just finished off one of the Marcoats." Julie said with some burns on her body.

"Impressive"

"He was so cool!" said Scorch "It was like he brought space to earth!"

"Who brought space to earth?" Everyone saw Sonic and Amy hovering down from the sky.

"Glad to see you guys in once piece. How was is everything?"

"This was awesome! I never thought I say this, but I love being dead! I can't wait for the next hunt!" Iris exclamed

"By the way, how did Iris do?" asked Sonic

"I'd say she'd gets a rank "S" said Scorch "She was fast, agile, and her moves where class "A".

"Heh! It was nothing! I want to have another one!"

"Why don't we head back to the castle? Don't you have someone waiting for you?"

"Oh! Right! I forgot!" Iris said slapping her head.

Dwayne sees Scarlet, Onyx, and Blade on the street with Chrome and Knuckles. He jumps down and runs over to her. "Scarlet? What are you doing here? I told you to stay with the Rogues?" said Dwayne

"Dwayne….I…I….uuhh" Scarlet was too scared to answer.

"Forgive me, Dwayne" Chrome said "I was the one who told scarlet to come with us."

Dwayne looked at Chrome the Scarlet with narrow eyes. Scarlet eyes were shaking. Everyone else was just looking at the two stare at each other "We better get back to the ship. I have something I need to tell Richter and you too, Sonic." said Dwayne summoning his board and flying off.

"Is he a Dusk Rader?" asked Amy

"No…." said Scarlet with a sad tone while summoning her gear.

"He and Richter are old friends, they both did jobs together. Later on Dwayne joined another crew. He and Richter kept in touch though. He could join us, but that's totally up to him." said Blade also summoning his gear.

"Hey wait" Sonic stops the two of them. "Why don't you come on our ship? We're heading back too"

"Really?" Scarlet asked

"We don't want to Impose" Chrome said

"It's cool. We are going to be traveling together anyway"

"Alright thanks" Chrome said

Moments later, everyone came on board the Blue Typhon. "Wow….so this is the ship you guys came in…" Blade said looking around. "Now this is real craftsmanship"

Shadow was in the captain's chair working the controls. Knuckles came from the back looking at the others. "Is the master emerald in place?" Shadow asked

"Yup! It's safe and sound" Knuckles said happily

"Ok" Amy starts while looking at the status screen. "The ship was pretty damaged but we should be able to make it home."

"Alright, let's take off" Shadow ordered

"Are you sure you know how to fly this thing?" Sonic asked

"Not really" Shadow said calmly

"What?"

"Allow me" Chrome said walking up to the Controls. "Ah. Yes. I see. Alright, I'll take us there.

"Are you sure?" Sonic asked

"The controls are slightly different than the ones on the Terra sunset, but it shouldn't be a problem for me.

"Alright" Let's take off!" said Sonic

"Right!" Everyone else said

_**What's in store next?**_

A couple of hours later, back at the castle, Knuckles was sitting on an old stone ballast looking at the sky. He then looks down at a large Master emerald below the ballast.

"Why so melancholy?" Julie asked walking up to him. "We got the emerald back, and it also looks like it's fully intact. So why so sad?"

"It's not that" Knuckles said jumping down. "I want to know more about our kind. It seems those two brothers don't know a lot about what happened to our parents or anything."

"You let things bug you too much" Julie said smiling Knuckles looks at Julie with a confused look.

"Don't you want to learn of our past?"

"Maybe, but I'm focused on the here and now. Right now you should be thrilled that we aren't the last of our kind."

"You're probably right"

"By the way, Knuckles" Julie walks up smiling "What would you do if those brothers were the opposite gender. You know girls instead of boys."

"What kind of question is that?" Knuckles asked jumping at the very idea.

"Would you still love me, even if Richter and Chrome were girls?"

"If they were….GAH!" Knuckles stares with wide eyes and an open mouth.

"What?"

"I…I just pictured what would happen if Richter were a girl? Not pretty!" Both of them start laughing. "Julie" they stop laughing and look at each other. "We became Cramoisi because we wanted to be together. Even if they were girls, and thank God they aren't, I'd still chose you" Knuckles comes up to Julie and hugs her.

"Oh Knuckles…" Julie closes her eyes when she was being hugged by him.

"Did you see how Richter…." Amy walked up to the two and sees them hugging. "Am I interrupting anything?"

"Yes" Knuckles said in shrill tone

"What is it, Amy?"

"Well did you notice the feelings between Richter and Lila"

"And Chrome and Mercury" Sonic comes up next to Amy.

"Are you thinking that maybe…."

"Someday perhaps"

The others look at each other for a minute, and then laugh. "Yeah right, like there's any way that they would become like us"

"You never know" Darcy comes up to the four holding a bowl in her hand.

"Mother? What's that bowl you have?" Sonic asked

"Oh, this?" Darcy takes a small hot cake out of the bowl.

"Hot cakes?"

"When did you get those?" Knuckles asked

"Oh, well I was having a nightly stroll and I saw that the bakery was about to close up. I wanted to try one of these things. They are actually quite delectable."

"How did you get the baker to…"

"Let's just say, he was kind enough to give some to me, aafter we talked. Anyway, I see that you found you're emerald, very good."

"Yeah" Knuckles agreed

"And Sonic" Darcy comes up to him and Amy. "Congratulations on finding your Blood affinity"

"Wait, you just found yours, Sonic?" Julie asked

"Yeah" Sonic answered like it was no big deal

"HA! That took you a while! I found mine just a few weeks after I changed"

"Oh yeah...what is it?" Amy asked

"Knuckles' is fear. And mine is vanity" Julie answered

"I found mine, it looks like my blood affinity is greed" Sonic said "And Amy's is wrath"

"How intriguing! Two common sins that are a common trait in most criminals. I hope you children are ready for what happens next." Darcy explained "Now that you are aware of who you have to fight, and you have your weapons. You must find light Gaia and stop dark Gaia from ever leaving the core."

"Just a normal day, huh Sonic?"

"Yup! Just a normal day. We'll find Chip, stop the grand mafia, and the shroud."

"Such confidence." Darcy turns around while closing her eyes. "Sonic, you and Amy will be strong enough to destroy the ultimate evil in this world, just as the Cramoisi warriors before my time."

(((TBC)))

Ok, not the ending I would approve of, but it's a good chap right? Right? Anywho….new cramoisi have joined up, and now the raiders know where to go, what's in store next?

Find out….next time!


	9. Apoltos City: The Return of Light Gaia

Back on Prison Island Klaus was panting in the main meeting room, with Pyraz and Termonos kneeling before him. He the stops pacing and glares at them. "Let me make this clear, you let the Cramoisi get away on the ship? "

"Y-Yes my lord" Pyraz said scared

"Do you have any _notion_ of the opportunity you gave those dammed freaks!"

"But my lord, we were able to damage the ship, and now it's incapable of flying all we have to do is pin point its location and then we can…"

"I don't care about some vessel! It doesn't even matter if we find them, with the master emerald in their possession; Darcy is now more powerful than ever! I should have you both killed. Why would I even bother bringing you fools back?"

"My my, master" Another robed agent comes walking in. This one had on a cyan and blue robe. "You shouldn't lose your cool. It's not healthy ,sir"

"If you have something to say, then you should speak up!" Klaus shouted

"If it pleases you, master. I've had some of my minions study the emerald and I think you will be quite pleased with what I have to offer." The agent takes out a large blue tube that had two glowing green stones in it. "We were able to find a very strong **power source** that is said to be the one thing that almost destroyed the world, in old times. "

"What is it?"

"Behold, the guardian of the chaos shrine, long before the echidnas."

Klaus walks up and looks at the tube. "Could this be…."

"Yes master, and according to our sources with the help of the Cramoisi's new pirate friends we will awaken the **beast that was locked up in the emerald**.

"Mmmm…not bad, perhaps it is too early for me to get upset"

"If I may sir, allow me to make up for the errors of the other marcoats, I will accompany the two criminal lords to the Middle East continent and help them construct the stronghold near the **Gaia phoenix temple.** With that as our new base, not even the Cramoisi will penetrate it, and we will get a very large supply of Dark Gaia's manna.

"Very well**, Geliu. (Ge-loo) **Do not fail me"

"By your command, master Klaus" themarcoat said while bowing and leaving the room.

_**Chapter 9**_

_**The Return of Light Gaia**_

_**Rise to the Challenge**_

Back at the castle, Iris was in her new room with Zerach. Zerach was looking out the window while Iris was looking at the white bunny laying on his bed. Zerach turns around and looks at Iris who turns and looks at him.

"Will he wake up, soon?" Iris asked

"Soon child, his time to wake up is coming. Right now in his state, his body is just adjusting to the instant change. Some cramoisi need time in order to wake up.

"Ok…"Iris said in a sad tone. "I'll wait forever if I have too"

"Good to hear, considering you have forever. Now, as your lover will awaken as a true fighter, it is time for you to rise as a fighter as well."

"What do you mean?" Iris asked getting up.

Zerach then puts his hand in front of Iris as it was glowing. Then suddenly a shining jema instantly appears in his hand that shines dark purple. "Take this, child. It is a jema that was crafted to match your powers.

Iris takes the stone and feels a surge of power flow through her. The Jema then disappears and forms a bracelet that wraps around her right ankle. "Whoa….that was cool"

"Actually, your element is gravity."

"No I meant it was sweet"

"Mmm…I've never tasted a Jema"

"I meant it was good"

"Oh, I see" Zerach starts laughing. "I still have some words I need to learn in the modern age. But to be serious, I recommend that you go with your brothers and sisters to travel the world in search for the gaia gates.

"But…what about…" Iris looks at the white bunny still lying in bed

"I will watch over him. The next time you see him, he will be a powerful fighter, as will you"

"Don't worry; you can count on me become strong!"

"Excellent, be ready when your siblings are about to leave.

"Yes father"

_**She can't fly**_

Tails was inside the underground hanger. He looks at the blue Typhoon in disappointment. After having been dealt with the shroud, It would take him sometime to get it up and running again. Cosmo comes from the doorway to the hanger and walks down to give him a hug.

"Why so down?" She asked

"I wanted to start flying with her again, but now…I can't"

"Oh come on. You're a genus! You can get it up and running in no time"

"I can, but it took me a while just to build it. Repairing it may take even longer, and we don't have longer."

"Yeah…you also said something about the lack of parts right?"

"Yeah…"

"Tell me, why is this ship so important to you?"

"You mean you don't know?" Tails turns around looking at Cosmo in question.

"Ummm, no…"

"It…we spent all that time in space with it. When you were gone, at first I couldn't even look at it, bad memories you know? But then I started to feel more connected to you when ever I set foot on it."

"Well, now I'm here, so it shouldn't be that important to you now right?"

"What?" Tails steps back after hearing Cosmo. "How can you say that? This was like our home!"

"You got to stop living in the past, the fact is I'm here now. You don't need a ship to remember all the times we had together"

"UGH! You just don't understand!" Tails turns around and walks away from Cosmo. She feels kind of bad now. Even though it's part of the past, this ship is very important to him. In this vessel they spent most of their time together and enjoyed the wonders of space, some happy times, some sad, and other memories that you can't just forget.

She walks up to Tails and pats his shoulder. "Listen, what do you say, after we save the world, you and I can work on fixing it together, just the two of us. Wecan make it just like it was before we took off for space."

Tails turns around and looks at Cosmo. His eyes start to well up and he hugs her. "Ok, we can do it together." Tails starts sniffling as he was embracing Cosmo. "I'm sorry I yelled…it's just…"

"I know…I know…you can be such a baby sometimes. But I still love you"

_**Princess and the time traveler **_

Silver was walking around the castle's old ball room. It was gray and blue everywhere, but was still somewhat beautiful. He looks around and sees a few Cramoisi sparing with weapons. One of them was a black woman with silver hair, blue tank top and black pants. Another one was a white woman with blue hair wearing a purple shirt and blue skirt.

Sliver reaches in his pocket and looks at his Jema as it was shining white. He thinks back to when Sonic and Shadow used there Jema. "I wonder what mine is."

"Why don't you find out?"

"I yeah maybe…WHOA!" Silver jumps back and sees the two girls looking at him. "Wha..oh..it's only you."

"What's wrong, brother?" Asked the blue haired woman. "Did you want to train with us?"

"Oh..uhh..maybe…"

"Ester, why don't we try training with him?" Asked the silver haired one

"I think he's too chicken, Rachel. Look at him he was all jumpy just because you said Hi"

"Hey! I'm not chicken!" Silver said getting up

Not too far from where Silver was, Blaze was in what looked like an old dance hall. Blaze was practicing some attacks with her fire tornado. She was shooting fire balls and blast at the stone pillars around her. She then makes a large fiery tornado that blows around the whole room. When she was finished everything was covered in soot. She jumps down and sighs.

"Wow!" Blaze turns around and sees a purple wolf with a blue shirt and short blue pants, walking in front of her. She also sees a tall blonde man with a green coat, orange shirt tan pants, and a patch over his eye, walking with Daniel.

"Oh…uhhh..Hi Daniel and..uhhh…"

"Hey Blaze, wewere just showing our sister here around. It also turns out she's a fire user, like you.

"My name is**Murasaki, **but people call me Miura." The purple wolf said.

"Nice to meet you." Blaze said shaking her hand.

"Blaze have you seen your Jema yet?" Daniel asked

"Jema? Oh." Blaze reaches in her pocket and shows them a lavender jema. "you mean this?"The blonde man comes up and shows Blaze an orange jema and changes it to long pole ax. And gets ready to swing it. Blaze jumps back avoiding the attack. "What are you doing?"

"You really should have given her some warning, **Gair (Ge-air) " **Daniel said."It seems that Gair wants to spar with you, and your jema. "

"How do I use it?"

"Just charge a sample of your fire power in the stone and it will transform." Daniel instructed

Back with Sliver, Silver was being pushed back by Rachel who was holding a large shield that turns into a long spear. Silver looks at the girls trying to figure out what to do. "Uhhh…."

"What are you waiting for?" Ester asked getting out her weapon that looked like a pair of mini pitch forks. "Bring out your jema. Let's see how strong our brother is."

Silver looks at the stone and closes his eyes and gets up…"Ok…"

"You want to see how strong I am?" Blaze asked as she takes the jema and ignites it using her fire.

Silver's stone turns into a large katana. "I'll show you!" Silver jumps at the two girls and swings his sword. Ester blocks the attack with her pitch forks. She then jumps back and swings at silver, but Silver jumps back and uses his psychokinesis to grab the fork and throw it off her hand and points the sword at Ester's neck. Silver smiles at her at his sight of victory, but then he sees Ester smile too. Silver turns and sees Rachel holding two axes up to his neck. Silver falls on the ground and backs away.

Meanwhile Blaze was fighting of Gair with a new weapon. It was a long spear with a crown shaped spike with three points. Gair gets thrown back as Blaze was swinging her spear at him trying to bring him down, but with every attack Gair was just standing there blocking every attack. Suddenly Daniel gets in the way and blocks Blaze next attack and puts his hand in front of her. Then a ray of large light came for his hand and blasts her through the wall into the next room with Silver and the girls. She crashes into Silver and both their weapons fall on the ground and turn back to stones. Silver looks up at Ester who was smiling.

"*sigh* oh well, you guys are beginners anyway." She said

"But not bad, you do need to train more" Rachel said "Even some of our other siblings have got some of their training down.

"You have only slightly witnessed what it takes to be a true fighter" Daniel added.

Gair walks up to Blaze and helps her up. He stands there looking at Her, and then bows while turning around. "Uhh…" Blaze scratches her head in confusion.

"Oh, Gair doesn't talk much. "Ester said "but he says he a good fight, and hopes to fight you again. As do I with you, Silver"

"Learn to fight better when you go on this trip" Daniel instructed while giving them back their weapons. Blaze's weapon turns back into a stone and disappears and reappears as a bracelet on her right arm; Silver's does the same only it appears as a shah on his waist.

"This is all too strange" Blaze said looking at it on her arm.

Sliver looks at his sash and then looks at the other Cramoisi. "Next time, I'm not going to lose!"

"We'll see about that bro" Ester said turning around and walking out while holding on the Gair's arm.

"Big sister?" Miura comes up to Blaze. "I'm going to get stronger too. When you come back, let's spar together!"

Blaze looks at Miura with a smile, she then nods and shakes her hand. "Ok, it's a promise"

Both Blaze and Sliver walk out of the ballroom. "So, you ready to get stronger?"

"You Know, I could have used my power to do those two in at the same time" Silver said

"So why didn't you?"

"I don't know" Silver sighs leaning on the wall.

"You can be so stupid sometimes" Blaze laughed

"What? Like you did any better getting blasted through 6 feet of concrete!"

"A minor setback, it won't happen again."

"Yeah right!"

"Ok, you want to go right now?"

"Why not? We got time!"

"You ready?"

"Yeah let's…" Suddenly Silver felt Blaze come up and kiss him. She quickly pulls away and starts walking down the hall. She turns around and looks at Sliver with a smile. "So naïve"

Sliver felt his cheek and then shakes his head. "Hey no fair!"

"Come on! We should get ready!" Blaze starts running off with Silver following.

_**To the sky**_

A few hours later everyone was outside the castle standing in front of the Terra Sunset. Richter comes off the ship stretching his arms. Chrome was already out side with a few of the Dusk raiders.

"Ok Cramzipys" Richter said "Are you all ready to go?"

"Hold on" Sonic walks up to Richter with Amy. "Not all of us are going"

"You're not?" Chrome asked

"Some of my children must stay behind." Darcy said walking up.

"We figured, that it will be less stressful that way" Sonic added

"Not a problem." Chrome stated "So who is all going with you?"

"I'm going, of course" Said Sonic

"So am I" Amy said "holding Sonic's arm."

"You ready, Tails?" Sonic looks at his two tailed bud.

"Hope you have room for another tech expert." Said Tails "Plus I want to try out my new powers"

"That goes for me too" Cosmo said walking up. "Plus I want to see how Jem is doing with her garden."

"How about it, Knuckles?" Sonic asked looking at the red echidna

"I want to say and look over my emerald in piece, but to travel around the world and try to learn of my past is too good an opportunity to past up. Count me in!"

"Just try not to fall for any criminal's tricks" Julie reminded "Hope you don't mind another robian tagging along"

"Staying home, Silver?" Sonic turns to the ivory time traveler.

"I'm not missing out on this" Sliver said "Let's make a good future for our sibs."

"Nice speech" Blaze said "Sonic, I'll be keeping my eye on this one"

"Ok, I guess that's everyone."

"Not so fast hedgehog." Shadow walks up with Rouge. "If you think of a second that, I'm going to sit at home like some lazy bum…"

"I thought that would get your attention" Sonic said laughing.

"You're so mean, Sonic" Rouge laughed back. "Anyway, I'll go with too"

"Hang on, what about Rocky and Cream?" Zerach asked

"They're going too" Richter answered. "Vanilla wants to keep an eye on Cream, and Rocky wants to train with me."

"That is fine" Darcy said smiling.

Richter turns to his left and sees Iris looking at him. "Mr. Pirate, I want to go with you too"

"Uhhh..sure…hehheh…girl I've never seen before" Richter said smiling

"IRIS!" Sonic looks up on the ship and sees Jazz running at Iris to give her a big hug.

"JAZZ! It's you! I can't believe it!" Iris screamed back. They both were hugging and laughing.

"Aww…" Richter said smiling. "How sweet. I have no idea what's going on"

"Richter!" Jazz jumps at him smiling "This is my old friend Iris. We grew up in the same village together. Iris this is Richter, he's training me to become a powerful fighter."

"Is he anything like your old master?" Iris asked crossing her arms

"Uh..no..not at all" Jazz said nervous "He's much more….companionate"

"Well , I'll be then judge of that, because I'm going with you"

"Really?" Both of them squeal happily hugging each other.

"Isn't that sweet, Sonic?" Amy asked

"Yeah, heh…so is that everyone?"

"Sonic?" Sonic turns around and sees Jayden with Saphron, Tawny, and Zoomer. Jayden walks up and looks at Sonic with a serious face."I'm….I'm going too! I want to become stronger. I mean…if that's ok…"

"Yeah, sure!" Sonic said giving him a thumbs up. "If that's ok with Richter"

"Hey dude, I thought all of you were going." Richter said "Go ahead let him come along"

"Yes!" Jayden exclaimed jumping up. "You coming Saphron?"

"Of course" Saphron said. "Where ever you go, I want to come too. What about you, Tawny?"

"Heh..yeah right!" Tawny said turning around. "I ain't going on a ship with…that guy" she points at Richter.

"Hurtful…." Richter whined crossing his arms

"Well, I'm going too" Zoomer said walking up. "When else does anyone get a chance to see the world?"

"So is that everyone?" Sonic asked

"Come on, Tawny." Saphron said. "All you do is stay at the castle. Live a little!"

"Yeah Tawny!" Jayden agreed

"Listen, there is nothing, I repeat NOTHING you guys can do or say that will make me travel with mister fairy man"

"AHHHHHHH!" Tawny looks up and sees People falling about 10 feet from off the ship and on to her. Everyone then hears a loud boom come from in front of the ship. It was Alice who's hand was turned into a small scythe.

"YOU!" She screamed pouncing on Ty. "You're a bad-bad boy! How dare you come in and mess with Alice's beakers!"

"Wait wait Ty's sorry!" Zeke said trying to calm her down.

"Alice!" Richter shouted making Alice walk over to him but falls on her face. "What did I tell you about throwing people off the ship?"

"But..But..he messed with Alice's beakers and almost blew us up." Alice said getting back up and using Richter to lean on. "Ty-ty keeps messing with Alice's stuff"

"It's not my fault you got such cool things" Ty said getting off and brushing himself off.

"You do have cool stuff Alice, but anyway, Ty stay away from Alice's things, Alice you stop throwing people off ships. OK! Madame, I think we've got everyone down." Richter said smiling. "We should be takingtaking off soon."

"We're going?" Zeke said looking at All the Cramoisi board but then he sees Tawny not boarding and looking at him. "Are you coming too, Tawny"

"Uhh..Uhhh Yes!" Tawny said walking up to Zeke. 'Yup! I'm going with you guys too!"

"Wait…didn't you say that you weren't going, and there was nothing that would..MMPPHH!" Tawny runs up and covers Richter's mouth.

"HA HA HA!" Tawny does a fake laugh. "Oh, he is such a kidder! I said that I _was_ going, and that there was nothing that you would do or say that would change my mind.

"Oh…well that's great!" Zeke said smiling "I'm happy you're coming along"

"Me too!" Tawny smiles while looking at Richter with an evil glare. "Keep your mouth shut echidna, and watch your back because I'm going on here so you won't do anything to him or his brother.

"Yeah..sure…hehheh" Richter said nervously

"Well, that's everyone, right?" Sonic asked

"Yes I think so, son" Zerach said

"I wish you all good luck on this journey, may you find your goals and come back home safely" Darcy said coming up to Sonic and hugging him.

"Thank you, mother" Sonic said

"Sonic" Sonic turns around sees Amy on the steps. "You ready to go?"

"Yup! Let's do it!"

"Sonic." Darcy comes up to Sonic's ear

"Yeah?"

"Keep watch on him, and all of them."

"Something up?"

"Understand, they somehow have a connection with us. I cannot say if it's good or bad in anyway, but should anything look as if a backs about to be turned, show no mercy."

"Understood"

"Klaus, once had a connection to us"

Sonic turns back and looks at Darcy with a shocked expression. "Really?"

"Yes…he did….but now that connection is nothing but a bitter hatred. I only hope our new friends don't go down the same path as Klaus did.

"I'll keep that in mind. "

"Safety and piece, Sonic the Hedgehog"

Sonic turns around and board the ship. The staircase closes up as the ship starts to take off. Darcy and the other Cramoisi see the ship as it slowly ascends in the air and turns over to the left and then blast off into the sky.

_And with that, Sonic and his friends begin their long journey….._

_**Welcome to the Terra Sunset**_

Richter walks everyone on board the ship. "Ok so you all know of what the ship has, right? All of you have absolute free access to everything on the ship, except the parts that are for authorized personal only."

"Is that were you keep your dead bodies?" Shadow asked

"No! we don't have room for them on this ship" Everyone then gasped in shock. "Kidding! No, only Chrome and I can go in those room. Anywho, to access anything you'll each need your own access card.

A hovering robot comes over to Sonic. 'Simile" He does a small smirk and sees a bright flash. The robot then gives Sonic a card with is face on it. More robots came and took pictures of all the Cramoisi., and gives them cards with their faces on them. Tawny wasn't paying attention as she jumps out of shock when the bot-bot takes her picture. It then gives her the card of her making a scared smile.

"Uhh…can I have a re-take?" She asked

"Nope!" Richter said smiling. "You get one and one only, if you lose it or drop it, it will be destroyed and you'll have to ask for a new one without a picture"

"Richter, that's not a rule" Chrome whispered Richter turns around and puts a finger over his lips smiling.

"So, where will we be sleeping?" Rouge asked "is the room some luxury suite or something?"

Richter looks back and smiles. "As a matter of fact…"

5 minutes later

"..it is!" Richter shows everyone a room. "Chrome, told me how you Cramdams were mostly couples, so you get our deluxe package! A large room built for two, a queen size bed, a large window a big restroom, drawers to put your things, closets and a mini fridge!

"How did you pay for any of this?" Sonic asked

"Alice made it. She sees designs from other homes and cruise ships and matches the designs and interiors. We get the parts from broken or sunken ships, and other junk yards, clean them up and made them part of the rooms."

"You Cramoisi will be sleeping in deck 7. A deck two decks below the mess hall.

"Sweet" Sonic said so what about food anyway?"

"Oh yeah, rule for you guys. No biting any of my crew mates" Richter said in a serious tone

"Unless of course, they want to be bitten or if it's an emergency." Chrome added "Except Jem, we want to keep her un-bitten"

"Fair enough" Amy says

"We'll just hunt for our own food when the time comes" Sonic added

"Great! You guys get settled in, I'll be back to check on ya later" Both brothers leave the Cramoisi

"Wooo-hooo!" Saphron shouted "I always wanted to go on a cruise ship!"

"Pfff….they aren't as great as they seem" Tawny said crossing her arms looking away.

"Have you ever been on one?" Jayden asked

"Uhh…not really…I mean…I may have been on one,…but I didn't like it!"

"So this will be our new home, for however long it takes us to seal the gates? I'm ok with that" Silver said. "The tech here is pretty decent, not great, but decent"

"I wonder if these rooms, come with cameras?" Rouge asked looking in the room Richter showed them. "I don't want any peepers"

"Or it could be booby trapped" Shadow added

"Why would anyone want to trap a booby?"

"I don't want any..surprises?" Shadow turns around and sees Alice hanging upside down. "Whoa!" Shadow steps back and sees Alice jump onto the floor.

Tails gets out a yellow gadget with a small screen and uses it to look around the ship.

"You Cram-Cram's are paranoid" Alice said "Alice made all this, so no need to worry"

"How can we trust you? You're a mad genius" Tawny said

"Thank you!" Alice said giggling

"She's telling the truth" Tails said "There's nothing that looks dangerous around here."

"Plus, if they were lying we would have to do something extreme with them" Cosmo said "But I don't sense any decent with any of them.

"I don't feel it either" Rouge said

"Alright, let's set up guys" Sonic said.

"Lunch will be served shortly." Alice said

"Hey Alice where's Richter?" Sonic asked. "I need to talk to him"

"Alice can track daddy for Son-Son. Come on!"

Shadow and Rouge grab a few of their things and open up another room. In the room he sees Scorch and Mist laying on the bed. "Scorch?" Shadow said

"Mist?" Rouge looks at Mist who was lying on Scorch.

(Don't worry their dressed. I know what you're thinking….sickos. Just kidding)

"Sorry guys, this one's taken" Scorch said

"Why are you guys here?" Shadow asked

Scorch set's Mist down on the bed and gets up. "Well if you got to know, It's because I wanted to follow you, big bother. I want to learn everything I can from you, you know like old times."

"Cute. Now tell me why you're really here"

"I-it's t-true" Mist said "I-I w-wanted t-to learn f-from some of the m-m-masters on here"

"She's thinking that leaning from an ice master can help her control her power." Scorch added

"Whatever let's you sleep at night" Shadow walks over to another room next door to Scorch. Scorch walks in and looks around the room.

"So, bro you want to do something?"

"No" Shadow said quickly. He then thinks back to when he saw the black hedgehog that looked like him. "Actually, I want to know something."

"Ok" Scorch said looking at him

"You're my brother, right?"

"Yeah" Scorch said "I was created after you, but I wasn't awakened until after you. The professor wanted me to have a life with you and Maria. So that's when I was born."

"Was, there...anyone else?" Shadow was almost afraid to ask.

"Mmmmm….uhhhh…..WAIT! Yeah, other than Maria, there was our sister **Fear**."

"Fear?"

"Yeah, wow you really don't remember do you?"

"So…she was telling the truth" Shadow thought to himself.

"You and Fear would always keep me from trouble. But why are you asking me?"

"I….I just wanted to know…." Shadow said "Trying to get my memory back"

"Oh, well….was there anything else you needed help remembering?"

"Not at the moment. Maybe later we can…uhhh….see how strong you are with your fire power"

"Really?" Scorch's face beams up. "I've waited for when we would finally so something together! Ok then I'll see you then! It's been almost 4 minutes so that means Mist must want me to hug her again"

Scorch walks off leaving Shadow and Rouge in the room. "Why didn't you tell him, how you met Fear?" Rouge asked

"Scorch may be older than me, but he has the mind of a child If I told him what Fear did to me, he wouldn't be too happy about it"

"Wow, you're hardly this compassionate with him at all. Have you finallyexcepted that he may be a part of your family." Rouge sits on the bed

"Bits and Pieces of my memory are slowly coming back, but I'm still unsure"

"Well 50 years ago or being a Cramoisi, you two are brothers. And if Fear really is your sister, and if you two see each other, it's only a matter of time before he sees the inner hate she has for you. Wow…this bed is so soft!"

"When that time comes, I'll tell him the truth. Maybe he can shed some light on Fear's thoughts, and she'll stop attacking me." Shadow was unpacking a few things and putting them up.

"Maybe then she may want to become a Cramoisi"

"Maybe…" Shadow sits down on the bed with Rouge. Rouge smiles and slowly touches Shadow's leg. "What is it?"

"You know what I want" Rouge said winking

Shadow then smiles and walks over to lock the door. "You are one spoiled girl"

"Yes..I know" Rouge giggled

_**Who's your Mommy?**_

Cream was in the cafeteria with her mom. Rocky comes in the cafeteria with a whole bunch of books, and sets then down on the table.

"What are you doing with all those?" Cream asked

"I wanted to do some reading. Big brother let me use his library."

"Richter has a Library?"

"No, Chrome does. Have you seen it? It's huge!"

"Yeah!" Jayden was sitting next to Rocky reading books. "And Richter has a ton of comic books!"

"You really like reading don't you?" Vanilla asked

"Yes, ma'am. I can't get enough of it."

"He was the top student in the class" Cream said

"I was once top in my class too" Jayden said "But, that was before….."

"Oh" Vanilla walks up to Jayden "I heard about your parents. I'm so sorry"

"No no it's ok" Jayden said smiling "I'm so much better since I became a Cramoisi"

"You know, I didn't have the pleasure of meeting this Darcy."

"Mother is really nice" Rocky said

"She's your mother?" Vanilla asked

"Oh..uh..no..we just call her mother"

"You too, Cream?"

Cream had a sweat drop go down her face. "I…can't help it I can't say her name without some form of formality."

"Da….dar…da….dee….." Jayden tries to say Darcy. "See? Nothing. I can say Madame Darcy thought"

"But she'll never replace you mama" Cream said hugging her

"I should hope not. Well, she hasn't told you to do anything dangerous nor has she done anything to hurt you…so I'm alright with it"

"That's good mama!"

"You know, Mrs. Vanilla, if you're worried, you could join the Cramoisi?" Jayden suggested

"Yeah! You could meet Mother she's really nice" Rocky said

"Oh my. I'm not sure" Vanilla said nervously

"I can change you, mama" Cream said "You'll be my first but I'll be gentle"

"Perhaps another time, my dear"Vanilla said

"and maybe, Mr. Vector could be your partner"

"Cream I said not now"

"I don't mind if you two are dating" Cream was still talking about t

"You two are dating? That's so sweet." Rocky said

"Kind of strange, but…it sounds good" Jayden said scratching his head

"Ok, I think I should go get lunch started" Vanilla gets up and walks in the kitchen. The others look at her as she walks off.

"Was it something that I said?" Rocky asked

"No, Mama is just shy" Cream said

"Still maybe we said too much." Jayden said putting down the book

Vanilla was making lunch in the kitchen, she then stops to look at golden necklace that was under her blouse. She sighs happily while looking at it as she continues cooking. 'Perhaps..Someday"

_**Lazy liars and Dark Zombies**_

Moments later everyone arrived at Alpotos. The ships lands on a large clearing just outside the city. Richter jumps off and kneels on the ground and kisses it. "Land, sweet land!"

"Do you do that everytime we land?" Chrome asked

"Just to show how much I love me some dirt!"

Sonic walks out and looks at the sun setting. He still felt the sun burning him just so slightly. He puts on his cloak as did some of the others behind him.

"Seriously how can anyone go around in those robes?" Richter asked

"Not what I would pick, but I'd rather look creepy then be dead. "Amy said

"So true. Now listen up, we're only going to be here for six hours, find Light Gaia and let's get going to Jagged valley zone." Chrome instructed

"You can count on it." Sonic said smirking. He then looks at the same stone ring on his 's find the Gaia gate" Sonic said

"Hold on, Sonic" Rouge stops Sonic with his shoulder. "let's take a break, and take some time to enjoy the city, we've got more than enough time"

"And by enjoying the city, we mean getting information." Shadow added.

"Oh! Oh! I want to check out some places too!" Tawny said. "But first I want to find Zeke!" She starts running in the city.

"I want to try some Ice cream" Silver said walking in the city with a few others"

"Guys! We can't just…."

"Loosen up bro" Knuckles said "We'll meet everyone back here after we're done checking out the city"

Sonic just stands there looking at everyone leave. He then sighs looking down, and feels a pat on his shoulder, and sees Tails. "I'll say with ya"

"Wow, Sonic I can't believe it" Amy said

"What, that everyone is running off without thinking?"

"Well yeah,"

"But you're usually not so uptight like this" Cosmo finished

"Heh, you're right" Sonic laughed "Guess feels different when the shoes on the other foot"

"You're just excited because you want to see Chip again, right?" Amy asked

"I guess so"

"Well come on, let's check out the city and then we can go to the gate" Amy said grabbing Sonic's hand.

'Yeah, let's go"

The four of them walk around the city as the sun was setting. "Do you even know where the Gaia gate is, big brother?" Cosmo asked

"Richter said that it was near the far edge of the city on the southwest side." Sonic answered

"Ok, we should head there…*gasp*" Tails stops walking and holds his chest. Cosmo starts feeling the same way as she was holding her chest. They both instantly look in opposite directions and walk away from Sonic and Amy.

"Tails?" Sonic looks at Tails run over to the city fountain. They both see a man lying on a bench. Tails looks at the man while slowly walking up to him. "Buddy?"

"I already gave you money today!" A woman was shouting at a man, who was sitting on a bench.

"Uhhh…I lost it" the man said nervously

"You did not!"

"Look…it uhh…my wallet flew out of my pocket and some guys stole it from me while jumping on me."

"That is a bold face lie!"

"What a jerk" Amy was looking at the two fight while Cosmo was staring at the man as he was picking his teeth. "Cosmo?"

Cosmo didn't pay attention and starts walking over to the two

Tails slowly walks over to the man as he was laying on the bench with a book sitting over his face. Tails could feel his chest pumping at a fast rate; he lifts his hands in front of him like he was trying to reach out for the man while showing his fangs while hissing. As he was about 5 feet from the man, he trips on the floor waking up the man.

Sonic looks at Tails on the ground with a sweat drop. "Talk about having cold fangs on the first non-black heart bite"

"Just admit that you were betting again!" The woman was screaming at the man

"I'm telling you...huh?" the man turns and sees Cosmo grabbing his arm. "Hey...what do you want?"

She smiles under her cloak "Your dishonesty, is intoxicating"

"Hey buddy" The sleepy man gets up and looks at Tails. "You ok?" Suddenly the man feels Tails grabbing his leg."WHAAAA!" He starts screaming out of fear looking at tails who had his head lowered.

"You...seem like too busy of a man to be laying around…." Tails looks up at the man uncovering his hood showing his violet red eyes.

Cosmo was doing the same to the lying man who was talking to the woman.

"Feed me!" They both said

The man who was with Tails looks at him as his eyes start to glow and kneels down to his level. "Brother.." The man uncovers his neck and tilts his head. "Take my blood" Tails slowly gets up and bites the man's neck"

"Sister" The man standing next to Cosmo smiles at her and kneels down to her height. "Go ahead and bite" Cosmo walks over and bites his neck.

The woman stares at Cosmo biting him. She tries to run away but Amy stops her by looking at her eyes. "My sister is feeding now, he'll be fine, just relax"

"Oh, is that all?" The woman asked as her eyes start to glow too. "Alright then, sister"

Cosmo pulls away from the man's neck. "Thank you for the meal" she said smiling "Go ahead and rest" The man swoons and then lays on the bench snoring peacefully. Amy tells the woman the same thing and she also falls asleep.

Tails also finishes the other man and looks at him. "Thanks so much, now why don't you go back to sleep" The man nods and lays back on the bench. The four of them meet back up on the main road.

"Nice work, little bro" Sonic said

"Yeah you too, sis" Amy said while rubbing Cosmo's head.

"That was so yummy" Tails said "And now I know that my blood Affinity is **Sloth."**

"Cosmo's is **Liars" **Amy said

"It was almost as sweet as the cakes they give on the ship." Cosmo said smiling

"Well now that we got that settled, let's head over to the…"

"NOOOO!" The others hear a loud screaming coming from a nearby ally. The four fly over the buildings and look in ally where they saw a group of people crowding two people. The people were glowing a black aura as they were slowly walking over to the two people. Sonic looks closely and sees that one of the two cornered people was Richter, and the other was Lila, being carried bridal style.

"**There they are…" **said one of the people shrouded in the black aura holding two dark Gaia spawn. **"Join…us" ** everyone around Richter kept saying the same thing over and over.

"Back away you moochers! Don't make me smother your faces with Frosting!" Richter said getting out a tube of frosting and putting it in his mouth to taste it. "Mmmm….vanilla"

"You carry a tube of frosting with you?" Lila asked

"Sometimes cream filling"

"**RRAAHHHH!"** one of the people swats the frosting away from Richter and they both walk closer and closer.

"Ok..that didn't work" Richter puts Lila in the corner and gets in front of her. "You'll have to get through me to get to her!" Lila looks at Richter as he was blocking the people away from her protecting her. "Take me instead!"

"What do we do Sonic?" Amy asked

Sonic swoops down with Tails by his side. "Blue boy?"

Sonic closes his eyes and sees the inside of their bodies looking at the web of veins. He could see that all the people were possessed by Dark Gaia spawn. "They're possessed! Chip we need…." Sonic stops talking as he looks around.

"Chocolate chips? I don't have any" Richter said "I got M&M's"

"Oh yeah…he's not…"

"JOIN US" A possessed woman runs up to Sonic swinging her hands at her. Sonic panicked a little, the woman wasn't evil, but possessed by a monster, beyond her control. Sonic had to react somehow. He stops the woman by pushing her forward. He then felt something as he was touching the girl. A dark aura was shrouding his hand as it was up to her chest. Sonic felt embarrassed and pulls his hand back, but as he was pulling it back a dark Gaia spawn comes out of her body. Sonic sees that he was holding the monster; it looks at him and growls at him. Sonic then bites the monster and drains it's blood, turning it to dust.

"What did I do?" Sonic asked looking at the dust. He turns and sees the woman who was possessed laying on the ground unconscious. The other possessed people come at Sonic and Tails. Sonic runs up to one and hits them on the chest bring out the dark Gaia spawn. "That's it! Amy!"

Amy and Cosmo look and nod at each other and swoop down and hit two more possessed people in the back taking out the dark Gaia spawn. Tails does the same to the last possessed person and drains the spawn. All the possessed peoplewere all laying on the ground not moving. Sonic walks up to one and touches his neck. "Are they…."

"Don't worry, they're fine" Sonic said getting up. "Those people were possessed by Dark Gaia, and one hit from us takes the demon out"

"Vampires, rescuers, fighters, and now exorcist? Will there be no end to how awesome you guys are?" Richter said getting his tube back and walking over to Lila. "You Ok, Lila?"

"Yes, thank you" Lila said smiling

"So…what were you two doing?" Amy asked walking up to them with a smile.

"In an alley together, alone…..sounds strange doesn't it?" Cosmo asked doing the same thing.

Richter and Lila turn away from each other blushing. "We..she…we saw the people in danger….while…"

"While what?"

"We just got ice cream together" Lila said "Nothing big"

"Uhh..huh" Both girls said.

"Captain!" Sonic turns and sees Rin-Rin and Onyx run up to them. "Are you ok?"

"Does a French fry taste better with ice cream?" Richter said smiling

"Ew!" said mostly everyone

"Yum!" Lila said "That sounds good"

"You like it?" Richter asked

"I once took someone's French fries and a shake." Lila said shyly "I did what I had to do to survive, living on the street"

"While we discuss foods and shakes, we got a situation." Onyx said "We got to find Light Gaia and get him to destroy the summon circle at the Gaia gate. "

"He's right, Richter" Sonic said "Do you know where the Gaia gate is?"

Richter gets out his disk and changes it to his Extreme Gear. He hops on and let's Lila ride on the back. "Follow the sugarholic, if you want to go to the land of milk and honey"

"What?"

"Just follow me and I'll take you to the gate, unless of course….you don't think you can"

Sonic smirks at Richter taking off his cloak. "You challenging me to a race?"

"Maybe…" Richter said smiling. "But you're going to have to clear a path so we can get to the gate. So I'll just be a guide" Richter takes off into the city.

"Aright Amy, you ready?"

"Right behind you"

_**((((Windmill Isle: Moonlit City))))**_

Sonic and Amy start running into the city. "Remember, don't drain anyone" Sonic reminded

"Sure thing" Amy said

They both start running through the moonlit streets climbing up ledges and buildings. "This brings me back" Sonic said

"Then this shouldn't be a problem" Amy said smiling

"if you two love birds are done, we got a mission to finish" Richter shouted from a distance.

Sonic and Amy nod at each other and start running after him. Richter sees them running after him. On their way they run into some nightmares. (Dark Gaia Spawn are also called Nightmares). Both of them get out their weapons that turn into a sword and a hammer. Amy swings her hammer at the nightmares in the air while Sonic jumps at them and swings his sword killing them off. Richter stops and looks at the two hedgehogs fighting; but pays more attention to Amy. "Hey, check out pink's new toy. Looks like she's learning how the hammer really works." Amy slams her hammer on the ground lifting larger nightmares in the air, and finishes them with another slam on the ground. "I'm proud of her…even though I had nothing to do with her improving her skills whatsoever."

Sonic finishes the last one and looks at Amy who was drinking from another nightmare she already killed. "That hammer of yours is pretty cool" said Sonic

"Thanks" Amy said back. "But for now I'd rather use my original one for now" Amy's Large hammer then disappears and reappears as a small bow in her air.

"That bow looks kind of tacky" Sonic said laughing. Amy puffs her cheeks with and jumps in the air and starts to fly. "Hey wait I was only joking.

"Sweet! Let's have some fun!" Richter said taking point ahead of the others.

"Come on, Sonic!" Shouted Amy "let's catch them!"

Richter rides his bike over buildings and through streets as Sonic and Amy follow. Richter wasn't faster as them but somehow he was able to stay ahead of them. "Richter, maybe you shouldn't play with them…" Lila suggested

"Don't worry, Lila" Richter said smiling "It's all for fun" Richter turns around on his bike and rides it backwards. "Come on, guys I can ride circles around ya!"

Sonic narrows his eyes while smiling and flies even faster to try and catch Richter. Richter turns back around and accelerates at the highest speed. "HIGH GEE GEE!"

"What does that even mean?" Amy asked

"No idea…" Sonic ricochets from building to building trying to get to Richter. Richter sees Sonic right at the end of his bike. "No…you..don't!" Sonic grabs the back of the bike. Lila jumps in shock seeing Sonic slowly climb up.

"OH! Hello!" Richter said. Suddenly Richter's Gear turns into a board, and somehow he was grabbing Sonic's body. Lila was holding on to Richter's body. "And goodbye" Richter then throws Sonic back right at Amy, and they both get knocked on the ground, as Richter just flies off.

They both moan in pain getting back up. "Sometimes….I really hate Richter" Amy said getting up and summoning her hammers. "I'm going to make him eat mallet! YAHHHH!"

Sonic jumps up and follows Richter at top speed. "WHOA!" Sonic said astonished.

Amy zooms ahead of Richter and looks at him dead in the face. "You seem upset" Richter said like no big deal. The two of them stop in the middle of the air.

"What is wrong with you? Is this all a big game to you?"

"I don't know…say…you can wield a hammer well"

"Oh…" Amy forgot about being upset with Richter and giggles. "Thanks I do use the hammer a lot."

"But your arms are kind of flabby. Do you do any working out at all?" Amy then gasped in shock. "I mean really" Richter grabs her arm. "Look at all this flesh jiggling. You should consider doing a few reps every day to tone all that flab" A whole cluster of mad marks appear on Amy's head. She lifts her hammers and swings them at Richter's gear tossing it clean across the city. "I'm just saying!" Richter shouted as he and Lila were flying clean across the city.

Sonic flies up to Amy panting. "What'd…you...do that...for…" Sonic asked

Amy glares at Sonic while holding her hammer. "You never talk about a girl and her weight, Sonic. NEVER! If you ever do that I'm smash them up!"

"Well now we lost our tour guide."

"Don't worry, I can smell his ice cream breath" Amy flies down and starts running on the streets and Sonic follows. As they all run across the city, they jump on the buildings, finding every route they can take, while also bringing down all the monsters in their way. With every obstacle they came across they would team up and help each other out. They reach the end and see Richter sitting on the ground with Lila

_**((((Windmill Isle~ Moonlit city . Stage clear))))**_

_**Sonic; Man that was short!**_

_**Amy: Either that or we're just fast!**_

_**Who let the dogs out…of the Gaia gate?**_

They reach a large stone structure and see Richter on the ground with his gear crashed into the ground. Amy walks up to Richter and grabs him by the vest. "You lummox! Don't you know we are trying to save the world, and you're acting like a…like a…six year old!"

"Amy calm down" Sonic came up to Amy and grabs her shoulder.

"P-put him down!" Amy and Sonic turn and see Lila with an angry face. "I..I mean…He...he was just playing…he didn't…to…"

"Uh…while you roll in your rage…why don't you take a look behind you" Everyone turns around and see a large cathedral like building. It was big stone cathedral with stain class windows and a large bell in the center. Sonic and the others look in amazement.

"Is…is this…."

"My friends, welcome to the **Gaia gate**, your destination" Richter said tickling Amy making her laugh and let go of Richter.

"So…you lead us here the whole time" Sonic asked

"Yes, I did!" Richter said proud of himself. "Even when she whack us"

"Captain!" everyone turns and see the others flying over to them.

"You guys are fast!" Tails said.

"Onyx was looking up close at the gate. "This one's bigger than the one in Spagonia"

"Well let's go inside!" Richter said running to the gate. Suddenly they feel the ground shake below them. They all see a large purple ring appear in the center. Out from the circle rises a large dog like beast with three heads. It lets out a powerful dark roar and stares at the group looking at them.

"That's a big doggie" Rin-Rin said smiling

"Uhhhh Nice Doggy?" said Onyx

"Come on Sonic!" said Richter getting out his big hammer "We can take him! You guys go to the Gaia Gate!"

"Amy, Draw the circle and have Rin-Rin do her thing." said Sonic

"OK! Let's go everyone!" said Amy as they all ran to the Gate."

"You ready, Richter?" Sonic asked

"Yup!" Richter said spinning his hammer.

_**((((Dark Guardian Fight: Dark Gaia Cerberus)))))) **_

"I know dogs are wild but this is crazy!" The Cerberus looks at the two, and then its head stretches at Richter. "Wha…" It opens its mouth and traps Richter inside while pulling his neck back.

"RICHTER!" shouted Sonic

Richter openedit's mouth and tried to speak."It's Ok Sonic!" *Chomp* the Cerberus closed its mouth "I'm just getting warmed up!" *Chomp* "This is nothing!" *Chomp* "GOD! It stinks in here!" *Chomp* "NO! I can't be eaten a second time! *Chomp* Blast you autho-" *Chomp* *swallow* Richter was swallowed by the monster. Sonic runs at the beast and uses his spin dash and hit his middle head

"**RRRRRAAAOOOOOORRRR"**

While in the air, Sonic gets out his sword and swings it at the middle Cerberus' head. He then jumps on its head pulling it's ears. "Bad boy! Bad! You spit him out NOW!" said Sonic pulling on his Cerberus' third head stretches at Sonic, but Sonic stops the head dead in its tracks with his sword and punches its nose throwing the Cerberus back. The Cerberus adjusted its traction and blows fire at Sonic. "Whoa!" he shouted as he doggies it. "Someone needs to be fixed!" Sonic spins his sword deflecting the fire and flies at the beast, while avoiding the fire and swings his sword at the middle head.

**RRRRRRAAAAAOOOORRRRRR! **

"What's wrong, this food's too hot for ya?" said Sonic

Sonic flies at its body and tries to carve its chest but the Cerberus swings it's paw at Sonic knocking him down. It was not going to go down so easily. Sonic adjusts himself and shot back at the body with his speed dash. This time he hit the chest knocking it down. When the beast tries to get up, there was a sour feeling in its chest. Something was irritating him from the inside. Out of the blue, something large and purple shoots out of the Cerberus' chest. It was Richter with a big black heart in his arms. The Cerberus gave out one last gasp and falls to the ground.. Richter was flying out until he hit the ground.

*Splat!*

Sonic flies to Richter all covered in black and purple goo.

"AHHHH! YUCK!" *Gasp* GROSS! That's it I ain't getting a dog!"

"*SNIFF* but you smell delicious! It's the heart of pure evil."

_**(Dark Guardian defeated))))**_

_**Sonic: Look like you're a little rusty!**_

_**Richter: We never speak of this to anyone!**_

_**Making the mark**_

_**(((10 minutes earlier)))**_

Everyone made it into the building. It was nighttime, but the interior was lighting up as bright as the day. "So...this is a Gaia gate." Amy said

"Nice isn't it?" Onyx asked

"Yeah…." Rin-RIn said "So pretty."

"Guys, look!" Tails points to a large purple circle that was glowing.

Onyx walks up to the circle and looks at it closely. "Yup, there's a circle just like this one in Spagonia. The longer this circle stays here, the more Dark Gaia spawn will seep out from the earth."

"Then let's get to work" Amy said "Rin-Rin, that's your cue"

"What is?" Rin-Rin asked tilting her head

"Make the summon circle so we can bring back light Gaia" said Cosmo

"Ohh….how?"

"Rin-Rin, you agreed to make a summon circle for our friends…." Onyx said slowly "Just make the symbolsopposite from the big purple one"

"Ohhhh….gottcha!" Rin-Rin gets the chalk and starts drawing a large circle.

Lila looks around and sits near a stone pillar. She sits looking at a glowing orange stone. It was shining brightly as the ones on Richter's chest"

"Penny for your thoughts?" Lila looks up and sees Amy looking at her. "Something on your mind?

"Oh, I was just" Lila was a little shy to speak

"I'm…sorry about….hitting you and Richter. Were you hurt?"

"No." Lila said smiling "It's fine, it's nothing compared to how I was treated before"

"What's that stone?"

"Oh...this…Richter gave it to me, he said it was special to him and he wanted me to have it."

"Oh! That's so sweet! Sonic hasn't given me anything yet, except his heart. So tell me, you like him, don't you"

"You mean Richter?"

"yup"

"uhh..NO! no..no! Men are all the same. You'll see…I'll be left alone again"

Amy puts her hand on Lila's shoulder. "If it does, and I'm sure it won't, then come to us, we'll look after you"

"Really?"

"Yeah, promise"

"Thanks"

"But you know, something tells me Richter isn't that kind of person."

"How can you tell?"

"Well, I know my Sonic wouldn't leave me alone if he'd known it would hurt me."

"Did he ever leave you alone?"

"Yes, a lot in fact"

"See? All men are the same…"

"But then one day, I told him of how much I hated it when he ran away, also…showing him how much it hurt. After that, he was on his knees crying about how much he didn't mean to hurt me. I thought it was just another lie, but he really meant what he said, and ever since then we've been together."

"You must have been pretty patient to wait for him"

"You have no idea, but anyway, I know Richter's not perfect. He may be loud, and annoying act's like he's six, a sugar freak, touchy, a bit of a cry baby, has the brain of a protozoa…..where am I going with this?

"Uhh…..the part where you tell me he isn't a jerk?"

"Right. And it seems Richter likes you, just give him a chance. Don't ever leave him."

Lila looks at Amy's smiling face. "Really hope you're right. I..I..I can't take another heart break again." Lila starts sobbing

"*sigh* there, there. It's ok" Amy hugs Lila as she was quietly sobbing.

"Uhh, ladies" Onyx walks up to the two of them. "I hate to break up this breaking up fest, but Rin-Rin is just about done with the circle.

The three of them get up and look at the large green circle. Rin-Rin makes the last symbol and steps out of the circle.

"MAJOR GROSSNESS!" Everyone turns and sees Richter and Sonic walking into the room. Richter was covered in black and purple goo. "Ew, Ew, Ew, Ew, Ew, Ew, EW!" Sonic grabs Richter's arm and licks it "Stop that!"

"I can't help it! You taste so good!" said Sonic chuckling.

"GRRRR! Then why didn't you just eat that Heart?"

"I did, and it was good!"

"Richter?" said Lila walking up but then backs away after smelling a horrificodor"What happened? And what stinks?"

"I uhhh….fell in a sewer? Yeah! That's it! Hehhehheh!" he said nervously

"CoughHegoteaten (He got eaten)" Sonic Coughed.

"Looks good, Rin-Rin" said Amy. "Now, Channel your power in the ring."

"Why?" asked Rin-Rin

"So we can bring out Light Gaia."

"OH! Who's Light Gaia?"

"Just channel your power in ring!" said Onyx losing his patience.

"Okey-doky!"

_**Light Gaia's Return**_

Sonic walks over and takes off the stone ring on his wrist and gives it to Rin-Rin. Rin-Rin takes the stone ring and lifts it up. The stone ring then starts to glow bright green as did the circle. Rin-Rin stands in front of the circle and closes her eyes.

"Svyatoĭ svet, kotoryĭ siyaet v nebesakh , , chtobyzakrytʹ ziyayushchuyudyru v zapruzhennoĭ . PridisvetGyei !

(Translation: Holy light that shines from the heavens above, bring forth the guardian of earth's light to seal up the hole of the dammed. Come forth Light Gaia)

A White bright light came from the circle and shoots up to the sky so high that everyone in the city saw.

"Ohhh this is it!" said Richter "We're going to kick butt!"

"It's this it? Am I going to see him again?" Sonic thought out loud.

From the ring, a small white ball of light came out of the circle. It was floating in midair then the light burst and reviled a small creature. He looked like a small purple dog with white hair. He had his eyes closed and he was floating with his small fairy like wings. As the light disappeared, the little dog opened his eyes and slowly fell to the ground.

"It….worked!" said Sonic walking over to the ring

"Uhhhh….. Huh?" said the creature "Where am I?" He looked around and saw Sonic with his "New" look. "AHHHH MONSTER!" the little guy shouted he then flies behind a stone pillar. "Please don't eat me! I'm too furry!"

"Hey, come back here! Is that any way to greet your friends?" asked Sonic.

"Wait! I know that voice." The little guy flies over to Sonic and gets a good look at him. He flies over to his face, looking at his glowing eyes, but then sees a vision of green eyes and darker skin. "Sonic?"

"Long time no see, **Chip**"

"SONIC!" He flies at Sonic and gives him a hug. "I missed you. What are you been doing, and why am I here? Has it been another million years yet?"

"No, it's been almost four years since you were last here."

"So why am I here now, and how do I remember anything?"

"I don't know, but who cares? You're back, and that's all that matters!"

Richter was confused looking at the two. He comes over to the circle and keels down and feels all around it. He looks around the room and looks back at Sonic and the little dog. "Uhhh Rin-Rin? You might want to try that again, I think this circles a dud" He said.

Rin-Rin stops glowing and looks around while sighing. "That felt pretty good…so much light"

"What are you talking about, Richter?" asked Sonic

"What do ya mean "what am I talking about"? Where's Light Gaia? All we got was this….Pipsqueak?"

"That Pipsqueak _is _Light Gaia" said Amy "Chip, is so good to see you again"

"Amy! Tails! Man Iam so glad to see you all" said Chip

"What's up buddy" Tails said doing a high five.

"What?" That thing?" Richter had a dumbfounded look on his face and tries his best not to laugh, but to no avail. He cracks up laughing like mad. "BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Everyone looks at him like he lost his entire ever loving mind.

"Hey Sonic who's that smelly dude laughing." asked Chip

"Our only hope to the Cramoisi Race." said Sonic

"Cramoisi?" asked Chip

"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! Richter laughed

"Um, guys?" Everyone looks at Lila who had a large table and some food on it. "Perhaps we can talk over something to eat"

"Why do you have this?" Amy asked

"I…I thought Richter and I would be going…on a picnic so …Alice made this compact dinner"

"Wow you really do like him don't you" Sonic asked as she looks down blushing.

"Alright! Chip said flying over to the food. "Let's eat while you explain everything!" The gang goes over and eats while Richter was still laughing.

_10 minutes later _

Sonic explained everything to Chip about what was going on with him and everyone while Richter was rolling on the ground laughing.

HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA WHOOHA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! I CAN'T!… GASP…I CAN'T! GASP AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA MY GUTS! THEY HURT! AH-HA-HA!

"Wow…quite a story, Sonic" Chip said eating a bagel.

"So that's why we need you to seal off the dark summoning circles." Onyx said drinking tea.

"Can you help us?" Cosmo asked

"Yeah! This will be just like before! I'd be glad to help you.

Lila walks over to Richter and gives him some food. "Oh, thank you" Richter stops laughing instantly and starts eating. "Thanks Lila….this is the best" Lila bushes while messing with her hair. "Ahhhh..thanks…now where was i….oh yeah….BAAAHHHH HA HAHAHAHA HA!" Richter continues laughing wildly.

_10 more minutes later_

AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! Richter was tearing and cackling like crazy.

"Here you go" Rin-Rin gives the ring back to Sonic. Sonic gives the ring back to Chip.

"Here you go buddy"

"Thanks" Chip said putting it on. He then hovers over the dark ring. The stone ring starts to glow brightly. "Shatter!" A bright light shines down from Chip onto the dark ring. Small green cracks appear on the glowing purple ring. It then starts breaking apart. As it starts to break a bright light shines upward onto the bell of the cathedral; then the light shoots out of the building into the sky; finally the large bell starts to ring sounding like a huge grandfather clock. The dark ring then slowly dissolves in a green light, leaving behind a smaller green circle in the same design as the one Rin-Rin made. Chip sighs and looks at the circle. He turns around and looks at Sonic and smiles. "It's done. Dark Gaia has no jurisdiction over this area anymore.

"Just like that?" Sonic asked

"Yup! Now we got to go to all the other gates, and seal them up"

"What...will…happen once we seal them all up?" Amy asked "Will you….you know…go with them?"

Chip looks down and sighs. "I don't know maybe…."

Aside from Richter's laughter, everyone was silent for a brief moment.

_Even 10 MORE minutes later!_

HA-HA-HA!

_Still 10 more minutes later!_

HEE-HEE-HEE!

_10 minutes still…._

WHOOO-HA-HA-HA!

Lila was finished cleaning up. After the silence, Tails broke it. "You know let's not worry about that now, the point is we're together and we should spend that time together and stopping evil"

"And if that doesn't work, since we're immortal anyway, it's not like we won't see you again."

The Cramoisi and Chip start laughing as the raiders and Lila look at Richter still laughing

_Come on it's not that funny!_

WHA HA HAHAHAHAHA HA!

_Is he for real?_

EEE-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!

_Sigh!… Later that evening!_

The bell had stopped ringing. Richter and the others walk out of the temple. Richter finally stops his laughter , and was eating a candy bar. Richter turns and sees Chip eating the candy bar. "You want some?" asked Richter

"Yes please!" said Chip

Richter got out a Candy bar ."He likes candy. He didn't hit me or attack me or anything, he's nice. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!"

"Thanks Mr. Smelly Guy!" said Chip taking the candy bar and eating it.

Poor Richter's body changes to white. He stands there in complete discontent. "Mr.….smelly…guy? We…we had an understanding…..."

"Ugh…..I'm sorry, but you smell worse than rancid polar bear meat, Captain!" said Rin-Rin

"You do smell awful! I'm sorry" said Lila.

"Et tu? Lila? *sob* *Sob*" poor Richter had anime tears going down his face. Richter walks over to his damaged gear. "*sigh* Alice is not going to like this." He walks up and presses a few buttons to turn it back into a disk. He turns around and sees Amy holding out her hand while flying.

"Come on, you need a ride back" she said. "I'll fly you back.

"Alright, thanks!" Richter holds on to Amy's hand. She was having some troble carrying him. "How much do you weigh?"

"I don't know…I never trust the scale"

Sonic was holding up Lila, Onyx and Rin-Rin were on their gears, and Chip was riding on tails. They were all flying back the ship. "Thanks for flying me back…" Lila said smiling

"No problem"

"So our next stop is Chun-Nan to seal off the Gaia gate" Amy asked

"That's right!" Richter said and next we're going to take back the land of Jagged valley zone, from the underground. Can't wait to get home and have me some ice cream!"

"*grunt* You should cut off on the ice cream, you're too heavy!"

"I'm telling you….if you had some better upper body strength you'd be able to do this, but your arms are too…"

Amy looks down glaring at Richter. "Don't say it…"

"What..that you're arms are too flabby?" Amy let's go of Richter. "AHHHHHHHHH!"

"Who's flabby now?"

"Amy…." Sonic looks back at Amy.

"I know I know…" Amy swoops down and catches Richter.

"Oh..thanks…." Richter said sighing.

"Say anything about my arms again, I ain't coming back"

"Hehheh"

Family Reuninon

Everyone arrived back at the Terra sunset. Chrome looks at Richter covered in gunk. "Wow…what happened to…"

"One word…and I'll put apple sauce on your glass angel figurines!" Richter said growling.

Chrome walks up to Richter's face. "Word"

"Oh..ho…that is it samurai bring it…GAH!" Richter was blasted by an energy blast coming from the ship. Everyone turns and sees Nazo walking out of the ship with Fear."

"Glad to see you, Richter. I've come to kill you and take your ship. Is now a bad time?"

Richter gets up and looks at him. "Yeah…I need a shower like yesterday!"

"You won't need a shower after I kill you" He charges at Richter and the two of them start going at each other.

Fear looks down at Shadow who was looking back. "This time Shadow, I'm going to end you, and make you pay for what you did to our family!"

"Hey! Listen!" Rouge said next to Shadow. "I don't know what the commander told you, but what he said is wrong. Shadow didn't kill Maria.

"You're right. He killed everyone on the ARK, including our brother!"

"Brother? Wait…do you mean…." Shadow was knocked to the ground by Fear.

Fear walks up to Shadow with her glowing hands. "Forget going to hell, because I'm going to make you experience it here"

_**((((Rival Boss fight: Fear the hedgehog)))))**_

Shadow gets up and starts running down a long stone street just below the peninsula where the Terra Sunset was set. Fear jumps down and follows him. Both of them were running with their air shoes.

Fear runs a head and while jumping in the air and throwing multiple chaos spears. Shadow gets hit by all of them and gets knocked down. Fear then runs at Shadow and throws him in the air while punching him repeatedly and then finishes it by slamming him to the ground with large Chaos blast. Shadow gets up panting. Fear instantly comes at him again and slams him against the wall while continuously attacking him blast of chaos energy. Shadow opens his eyes and looks at Fear with a angry gleam. His hands then start glowing bright red. He then puts his hands together. "Chaos….Breaker!" He shoots out a large red beam at Fear that hits him dead on. Fear gets blasted on one of the stone arch, making it crumble and on top of Fear. Shadow walks over to the rubble and sees Fear come out of it with her clothes tattered and her left eye closed

"You've improved!" said Fear.

"No, I let you win last time. Now, are you going to sit and listen?"

"Not on your life." Fear said as her hands were glowing green healing some of her wounds.

"Have it your way" Shadow's hand then starts to glow a dark purple. "BLACK CHAOS WARP!" A large purple orb surrounded Fear and pressed her body with a powerful gravitational force.

"AHHHHHHHH!" She screamed being flown back into the rubble. Shadow wasn't done yet. He holds on to Fear and does a chaos blast that throws Fear all the way back up to the Peninsula. Fear tries to get up but was unable too.

**(((Rival Boss Defeated))))**  
>I know it's annoying to put this with every victory, but just roll with it<p>

Shadow walks up and lifts his hand about to deliver the final blow. "You're more trouble then you're worth"

Fear opens her eyes and looks at Shadows face. "I guess… it's true…you are...a...cold blooded killer….you…killed everyone…..the people on the ARK….Maria…and our brother..Sc…"

"STOP THIS!" Both of them sees Scorch run in front of Shadow blocking his path.

"Move Scorch" Shadow ordered "Out of my way"

"Sc..corch…?" Fear stares at Scorch with wide eyes

"No!" Scorch said "Shadow, she's our sister! We're finally together and here you are fighting!" Socrch turns around and kneels at Fear.

"I….I don't believe it…." Fear said "You're….alive?"

"It's good to see you, sis" Scorch said smiling. "We're a family again"

"Scorch…" Fear said softly but she then loses consciousness.

"Fear!" Scorch comes up to her with tears in his eyes. "It's ok…we'll get you some…UHH!"

Shadow looks up and sees that Nazo holding Richter by his neck. He also sees that Nazo was the one who shot Scorch. Richter was grunting trying to break free. "She's coming with me" he said

"This is so unprofessional!" Richter said strained. "You do not play fair!"

Shadow comes and tries to get Fear by Nazo throws Richter at him knocking him down. Nazo grabs fear and warps out using Chaos control. Shadow kneels down and slams his fist on the ground. Scorch walks up to Shadow and pats his back. "You….you knew she was alive…."

"Yes" Shadow said "She thinks I killed Maria."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Scorch asked "We could have seen her together. And you had to fight her? You were trying to kill her! If you had any idea she was our sister why would you try to kill her?"

"She didn't listen to me"

"What about me? She was happy to see me! Maybe she would have…"

"If you were in my shoes, what would you have done?" Scorch gasped and took a step back. "Take a look around you, our whole family is here. Fear was tricked into thinking that we were evil. She was a threat to not just me, but everyone.

"You could have told me"

"And what good would that do?"

Scorch stops for a minute and looks down. "Were…you..going to kill her?"

"If she is my twin, then it would take a lot more than what I was going to do to her to kill her." Scorch looks down. "Now I know she really is our sister, and she's been tricked. The next time we see her we'll team up and bring down Klaus together"

Scorch looks up with tears in his eyes, but then wipes them away and nods. "Ok…you got it"

"Shadow" Richter walks up to him with a smile. "I…don't fully understand….but I admire your determination to find your lost sib"

"Back off, Solairte" Shadow starts walking up to the ship "We got a strong hold to tear down."

"Oh, right! Everyone! In the ship!" Richter ordered

Everyone walks into the ship. Sonic looks at everyone board the ship and then looks back at the city light up. He was happy to know that now they have a way to save the world form Dark Gaia but, still worried about the path that lies ahead,. However, it didn't worry him too much. Because he had his friends to back him up.

"So Shadow has a heart after all" Sonic said getting on board.

(((((TBC)))))))

Mmmmm…not too happy with this ending ether but anyway hope you enjoyed this! What will happen when they reach the next village?

Find…..

Out…..

NEXT TIME!


	10. The Second Gate: The Cold Valley

Sonic was walking in a dark space looking around; everything was dark nothing around no one either. "Where am I?" he asked himself. Suddenly he sees blue bricks from around him. Now the environment was a large blue brick room. He then sees a bright violet light appear below him. It starts shaping into a rectangle starting to look like a neon box. Sonic could see what was in the box, he looks closely in the violet glowing box to see what was inside. His eyes widen in shock and he takes a few steps back. He sees Amy in the box, only she looked like she did before she became a Cramoisi. She had her eyes closed and had her hands lying on her chest. He steps back and nods while panting out of disbelief. He looks below and sees another glowing box he looks below his feet and sees Tails in one as well, laying in the same position. Suddenly he sees more violet glowing boxes he could see not just those two but he could see all of his friends in the same violet boxes. He kneels down panting while holding his head. "How…how could this….huh?" When he looks below him he sees a another violet box, when he looks down It was like looking at a mirror; he could see himself in the box with his eyes closed and his arms crossed on his chest. "What? How is that….me.." Sonic looks at himself and sees that he still had his Cramoisi features. He looks at the person in the violet box and sees himself before he was a Cramoisi. "What the heck is going on?" He gets up and walks back while still looking down at all the people below him. It was everyone he knew that had become Cramoisi including some of his new friends: Saphron, Tawny, Jayden, everyone. He falls back and on the ground and continues to scoot away from the red boxes. When he was away from them he then sees three another boxes appear below him; one of them was orange, another one was white and the last one was red. He looks in the orange box and sees an orange echidna. "What? Richter?" The orange echidna had long orange dreads and black bangs that were drooping down close to his face. He was wearing a black jacket with black fur at the top, and also wearing short black pants, and shoes with spikes. He turns and looks at the white box and sees a white echidna wearing a blood red trench coat with a black shirt and black pants. "Chrome? How are they?" Sonic turns and looks at the last box, and sees someone different. He sees a silver wolf laying in the box in the same way as the others; he had on a black unzipped coat, blue tattered pants and, black boots, with a large diagonal scar on his chest. "Who…who's this?"

"This place…this world all is connected, to the twilight" Sonic turns around and sees a girl walking in the room. "Bright…but not dark, black…but no light…..shadow…with light…but….brilliance…without shade….." The girl had orange hair, red tunic and a green skirt.

"What?" Sonic looks at the girl walking around the room skipping over the boxes below her.

"oh brilliant light, shining above, why do you look down on the shadows below? Oh shadows of the abyss, why do you envy that which shines? " She runs over and sits kneels down to the box with the orange echidna. She then lays on the floor while rubbing the box. "Oh…you sleep…not here….not awake…"

"Uhhhh…"Sonic walks up to the girl slowly. This was all too strange for him.

"You!" The girl jumps on Sonic and hangs on his shoulders "Please….you must wake him up"

"Wake him?"

"Wake him…before….before…"

"Before what?"

"They...take….him…."

"They…..who's they?"

The girl moves up to Sonic's ears and whispers. "The…dark…ones…." A large orange liquid monster comes up from the floor and looks at the two with its growling green eyes. It then lets out a powerful roar and swings his hand at Sonic.

Sonic shouted as he woke up in cold sweat. He holds his chest panting. Amy heard him scream and wakes up. "Sonic…" Amy said while rubbing his back. "It's ok, you had a nightmare"

"Amy!" Sonic hugs Amy tightly. "Thank goodness you're ok!"

"Of course I am. What was your dream about?"

"Oh.." Sonic lets go of Amy and clears his throat. "It..it was nothing…I just…dreamed you had…a…a nasty fall"

"A fall?" Amy asked in a questioning tone.

"Yeah, a fall. Nothing big." Sonic gets up and stretches.

Amy had a feeling he was hiding something from her, but knowing Sonic she didn't want to strip him of his pride so she leaves it alone, just for now. She gets out of bed and opens up the mini fridge and gets out a black urn while also getting two cups. She pours blood in the two cups and gives one to Sonic. "Well, I hope your nightmare won't stop you from our new mission"

"Nothing stops, me" Sonic smirked while drinking.

_**Chapter 10**_

_**The second gate; fight in the frozen valley**_

Sonic walks in the cafeteria and sees some of the raiders and Cramoisi siting together talking and eating breakfast. "Hey, guys"

"Sonic!" Tails walks up

"Tails is Ok too, thank goodness" Sonic thought

"This ship has everything! Things I would have never thought of. I stayed up all night working machines"

"They have a great gym here too" Knuckles said

"I almost got lost once" Amy said laughing, but then turns and sees Sonic looking down. "Sonic?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry!" Sonic shook his head and then walks over to the kitchen.

"What happened to him" Knuckles asked

"Bad dream" Amy answered

Sonic walks over to the kitchen and sees Lila and Vanilla working. "Hey Lila, have you seen Chip anywhere?" He asked

Lila looks up."No Sonic, I haven't seen him all morning. Sorry"

While vanilla was cleaning, she looks up and sees a cookie jar moving. "What's this?" She grabs the jar and opens it up and sees Chip sleeping inside. "I think I found him" Vanilla brings the jar over to Sonic.

Sonic gets him out of the jar and slowly shakes him. "Mmmm….don't bug me…" he said in his sleep

"Guess he's still tired"

"Here Sonic" Lila gives Sonic four breakfast tacos. "This batch was made for you Cramoisi.

"It has a bit of…ahem." Vanilla clears her throat

"I know I know" Sonic knows what's in the tacos, and also knows how Vanilla doesn't like to talk much about it. "I'll give some to Amy"

"Hey, has anyone seen Shadow?" Knuckles asked

"I think he went to look for that **assassin **who tried to kill Chrome" Julie answered while eating

"Guess he still doesn't trust the dusk raiders" Sonic chuckled "He's probably checking to see what they do with the prisoners. He needs to lighten up"

"Or maybe he's not being strict enough" Amy pondered

_**What lurks beneath **_

Shadow and Rouge were walking all the way down the steps being led by a hovering robot. They were being led to the low deck of the ship. The robot opens the door at the bottom of the flight of stairs. All three enter and see two rows of cells with walls made of energy. The bot leads the two to the first cell; they both look and can see who was inside. They saw a young woman with a red robe, black tunic and brown boots. She was sitting on the bed with her knees up to her chest. Shadow looks around the room and sees all what it had; a TV, a bed a small restroom and a small table.

"This prison looks too relaxing" Shadow said

"The captains did say it was refurbished" Rouge mentioned "Can you open the gate?"

"Make your visit brief" The hover bot opens the electric gate, and the two of them walk in, and the gate closes back up.

The girl turns and looks at the two with narrow eyes. "I suppose you murderers are happy to see me like this…unable to do anything "

"We're not dusk raiders sweetie" Rouge sits next to Lori "We just want to talk"

"I have nothing to say" the girl turns away from Rouge

"You said your name was** Lori **right?" Shadow asked "Who sent you to kill Chrome" Lori turns completely away from them.

"Ok, well Chrome told us that your uncle was a Criminal lord, right?" Rouge asked

"What difference does it make?" Lori asked still looking away from them "You didn't know him like I did. He was a great man"

"He was a cold blooded criminal who took woman and robbed innocents" Shadow said "How is that innocent?"

"Life was hard for us. Do you think he liked doing that? He would capture the woman, but it was his gang members who made the money and gave him some of it."

"Is that a fact?" The three of them turn around and see Mercury entering the cell.

"Mercury…." Rouge turns to her and back to Lori who looks back at her.

"We heard Dannith was the one who killed off the village known as **Emerald forest Zone**. You realize there are many people without families now. Your uncle was the cause of…"

"None of it is true!" Lori shouted getting up and facing Mercury "I was told that _ you _ were the ones who killed everyone in that village, including my uncle!"

"Who told you this?"

"You should know who! He was their when it happened. **The criminal lord Claw Ginn Ransha!" **

"**Ransha?" **Shadow and Rouge look back at Mercury.

"He's a high ranking **Ginn **who is the leader of the Chun-Nan province." Mercury explained. "He's a bloodthirsty killer who's murdered hundreds of innocents, including his own village." Rouge gasped while covering her mouth; Shadow just looks the other way.

"You dusk raiders know about killing people!" Lori shouted "Your captain, killed my uncle in cold blood!"

"Your uncle was in Newtrogic high Zone when we saw his cadaver; we didn't kill him"

"That's a lie! I was told by Vel- *gasp*" Lori covers her mouth. Mercury tilts her head in question. "He told me Chrome killed him"

"Lori" Shadow walks up to her, staring at her eyes. Lori looks at Shadow and then starts to feel less tense. "I'll bring this Ransha here, and make him explain things. I know he's lying"

"Shadow?" Rouge looks at Shadow's face. He's never been this serious helping people.

"We will both bring him here" Mercury said "I'll prove to you Chrome didn't kill him"

"Why do you care about him not killing him?" Lori asked "He your boyfriend or something?"

Mercury gasped and blushed looking away. "N..no! I just think you should learn to get your facts straight. What do you say? If Chrome didn't kill your uncle, you have to let him go, but if I'm wrong you can attempt to kill him again"

"And how do you know I won't betray you at the last minute?" Lori asked

"Something tells me you aren't that kind of person, who would betray anyone. If your uncle is a good as you say he was, then I have faith in you"

"Humph. Fine. I'll stay here and wait for you to bring Ransha"

"Good" Mercury looks at her watch. "Oh, shoot! I got to go before Zenith starts training without me"

"We're leaving too. Come on Rouge"

"Hold on" Rouge walks over to Lori and holds her hand "We'll find your uncle's murder, I promise" she winks at Lori and turns around walking out with Shadow.

Lori looks down at her hand and sees a strange pick. "Mmmm….." Lori then smiles while putting the pick in her pocket.

"Good Morning passengers, Raiders and Kamicones." Richter started speaking through the intercom. "We are en route to Chum-nan. At this moment we would like all people entering the city to meet up in the briefing room do discus our strategy, and good news to all you cromizomis, it looks like a fog bank is rolling in so no mean old sun to burn you up. Anyway have a good one! Richter *howling* Ouuuuuut!"

"That echidna is a fool" Lori said sitting back down. "I'll get the word from the man himself"

Shadow and Rouge walk all the way back to the lounge room heading for the briefing room. "Hey Shadow" Shadow looks up and sees a green husky walking over to him.

"Dennis, is that you?" Rouge asked looking at him

"Yup. I came to give you this, big brother" The husky gives Shadow a black jema. "It was said to belong to the original chevaliers d'eclat somber. Mother told me to come and give you and Sonic one"

Shadow takes the jema and looks at it. "Humph." He puts the jema into his gauntlet. The gaunthlet then slowly starts to change in design. It was much bigger and shining even brighter. "Not bad"

"That will become very useful in the upcoming battle" Dennies said

"Let's hope so"

_**Who has the ring?**_

Moments later the ship lands in the large valley surrounded by rocks and vegetation. The ship slowly lands and out comes a flight of stairs. Sonic walks down and looks at the land around him. He looks up to the sky and sees that it was covered in gray clouds, with no sun in sight.

"This place is so pretty." Amy walks out while spinning around.

"Rocky and Cream are on the ship along with Chip and the chaotix" Tails said to Sonic.

"Alright, let's go in the city and see what we can learn about the Criminal lords, after that we can take care of the Gaia gate at night" Sonic explains.

"Yeah but shouldn't we take care of it now, and then get information?" Knuckles asked

"Chip said that we need to destroy the circles at night, when they are at their peak of power"

"It's also when the guardian is supposed to be awakened" Amy added "The guardian is the one who keeps the circle from getting destroyed. "

"We destroy the guardian we can destroy the circle."

"Let's go already" Rouge said "It's no use standing around talking. It's time for us to take action."

"Wow!" Jazz steps down out of the ship "It's beautiful!"

"Have you ever been here Jazz" Rin-Rin asked coming out with her.

"No, It looks so clean here and peaceful."

"Yup lovely isn't it? Wait till we enter the city." Richter comes off wearing a straw hat. He walks up to the nearby stone stair case. "This way will lead to the big wall that leads into the city."

"Richter, were going into the city" Sonic and the others were already halfway up the starcase.

"We're coming!" Richter said following

The group walks up the large stair case that leads to large gate; there they see three young women in robes there with a few guards. Richer and Chrome walk up to them and bowed in respect.

"Hello Dusk Raiders" said the first woman looking up

"The elder is expecting you" the second one adds while looking up

"Please follow us" said the third one while also looking up

"Thank you" Shadow andSonic bow in front of them.

They all walk in to the lively city with all the people walking around and children running across the stone streets. The cities buildings where all red and white, and had black umbrella like roofs. "Wow, this place is much different than the last time I saw it" Sonic spins around looking.

"A lot can happen in three years" Amy was looking at some of the people playing interments.

"Or when you make a deal with the dusk raiders" Richter looks at a few kids drawing on a sheet of paper.

Chrome stops everyone and looks at them to give them instructions. "Ok, the leaders of the groups will go see the elder, you guys can check out the city.

"Got it!" said the two groups.

The raiders and Cramoisi were all checking out the city. Amy looks around at the little shops they had. "Want to do some shopping?" Rouge asked next to her

"Sure!" Amy exclaimed. Even if she was different nothing can change her passion for shopping. She and Rouge enter one of the shops and look around at all of the antiques and jewelry. Rouge's eyes began to sparkle as she was looking at all the gems. Amy rolls her eyes, but then looks at a red amulet. She stares at the amulet, with its ruby encrusted chains and large sparkling ruby in the center. "Whoa…."

"I see you have a good eye my pink robed friend" Amy looks up and sees a pair of glowing eyes. She jumps back in shock looking at short cloaked figure with a pair of glowing eyes standing on the glass table.

"Who...who are you?"

"Hee hee hee hee hee hee…oh…don't mind me..I was looking over you…and you looking at my jewels."

"How much are they?" Rouge asked walking up in front of the man's face.

"Uhh….do you have anything that my boyfriend would like?" Amy was curious to know.

"Ah…young lovers I see! Hee hee hee hee hee hee" The little man laughed in a small pitched voice "I can tell you aren't from around here.

"Maybe they you might have something like…an engagement ring?"

"I might have something even better my friends!" The man jumps down and walks to the back, and quickly comes back and jumps back on the glass table with box. He opens it up and shows them an assortment of rings, necklaces, and bracelets.

"So lovely!" Rouge looks at a pair of matching rings.. "How much are these."

"I give you both two for 1000 credits"

"That's crazy!" Amy said

"Sorry but that's-"

"Hold it!" The three of them turn and see Scarlet walking up to the two. She then gets a closer look at the man selling them the jewelry. "You wouldn't be trying to swindle my friends here would you?" She said smiling while showing him her dusk raider tattoo.

The man then gasped in shock looking at the tattoo. "Oh, no! Hee hee hee hee hee…..did I say two for 1000 I meant….two for 300. Hee hee hee hee…."

"Good, good"

"All we need is just four rings" Amy reminded

"Well pick whichever one you want." The man's expression was a little more inviting.

Amy looks at the rings in the box. She then sees two that had a one baby blue pearl and another one with a violet peal on it. Rouge saw two with a sliver-black jaded gem on it another one with a white jaded gem. "We'll take these" They both said getting the rings.

"Excellent choice!"said the hooded man "That will be…..149"

"Sounds good" Scarlet said Grabbing two large orange gems. I'll take these two"

"Well since you guys were so nice; I'll throw those in for free"

Scarlet gives the man the money. "Thank you"

"Please come again! The hooded man waved as they left the store. "Nice people….hee hee hee hee….don't want to mess with those mafia grunts"

They were both walking out of the store looking at their new stuff. "These are so pretty" Amy said looking at her rings. "I hope Sonic loves them"

"I know Shadow will love these. Hey Scarlet, why did that man change his mind when you showed up?"

"You don't know?" Scarlet turns and looks at the girls "That man was a **Subterosi (sub-terr-rosy)"**

"A what?" Amy asked putting the rings in her pocket.

"Subterosi are small little men who work the merchant branch of the criminal underground. They swindle everyone but people who work in the criminal underground. That's why he changed the price the minute I showed up."

"So..these rings aren't valuable?" Rouge asked "My jewelry sense was…wrong?"

"Don't feel bad. It's how they work, They make the gems from cut up rocks that have no value, and the metal is just recycled scrap metal.

"We've been had!" Amy had mad marks on her forhead. Clenching her fist. "let's go back!"

"Don't bother. The only thing that's stopping me from messing with that swindler is the fact that we get special objects from them. You see the more we pay them the more info we'll get from them about criminal activity around the world"

"Scarlet!" Jem was running over to the grils. "We've got…oh my gosh! Those gems are beautiful!"

"Jem, focus" Scarlet said putting up the gems.

"Oh, right! The armies are heading this way! We got to go!"

"We'll be right there!" Amy said running out the village with Rouge

"Can we get some of those stones?" Jem asked

"Later Jem"

_**The third Marcoat**_

Richter walks outside and signals the raiders to come outside. The raiders stop what they were doing and run out to the back entrance and saw the gray sky above the large jagged valley, Richter looks ahead and see an army of robots walking to the city.

"Jem, Scar…scout ahead" Chrome ordered

"Yes captain!" They both took to the sky to look head.

"Our Second battle together" Sonic said smiling.

"Think you can handle it?" Richter asked. "I don't want to be saving your but again"

"We will have to see won't we?"

Jem and Scarlet were flying in the sky looking at the army, so high that the enemy couldn't see them. Suddenly they see a large flaming fire ball flying at them. Scarlet just barely dodges it, and starts flying back to the group with Jem.

"How many are there?" asked Chrome.

"There must be over 600 bots out there!" shouted Jem falling on the ground

"DonZor is leading them too" said Scarlet

"Something is not right DonZor wouldn't send that many bots over here" said Dwayne "unless…."

"He knew we were coming!" said Richter

"How can that be?" asked Chrome

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr….."

Alice crawls up to Richter and the group growling, with an angry look on her face.

"Alice?" Ty looks at Alice from behind.

"Ty-Ty, does Ty-Ty trust Alice?" Alice asked

"Ummmmm Yeah….Yes I do!"

"Daddy, Alice wants to fight too! She wants DonZor to fall!"

Richter looks at Alice's eyes. He knows that she was determined to do what she thought was right, and had the utmost confidence in her. He just smiles at the look on her face. "Alright, but be careful." he told her

"OK!" Alice said smiling

"SONIC!" Shouted Tails from a distance.

"What is it?"

"There's another army heading from the opposite side of the village!

"WHAT!"

"Dang! They're trying to trap us. How the hell did they know?" exclaimed Chrome

"Now what do we do?" Tails flies down looking at Sonic.

"We take them down!" Sonic said "A couple of pirates and Cramoisi vampires can take care of these clowns!"

"Sonic" Shadow walks up with a group behind him. "Leave that army to me"

"Take some of the others with you" Sonic instructed.

"Alright, Jazz, Mercury, Marine, go help out the Kimimozis" Richter instructed

"Aye, Aye!" said the crew mates

"I'll stay with Richter" Onyx said "These guys are kind of fun to kill"

"Whoa…kind of morbid there ony (Onyx)" Blade said

"Sorry"

"The armies are getting closer!" Tails said

"You all have your orders! GO!" Richter ordered

"Understood!" The group breaks into two; one staying in the south entrance dealing with the criminal underground and robots, and the other one to take on the Navi marcoats.

Shadow and the others attempt to move over to the north entrance of the village. The north part was just as rocky as the south only with very little vegetation. Shadow looks at his new gauntlet.

"That's a real nice accessory to your gauntlet. " Rouge said

"Thanks"

Knuckles looks at his new wrist bands. "So what do I do if I want to call these weapons?"

"Just think about it, and it will materialize" Julie said looking at her arm band.

When forged Jema isn't a weapon it becomes an accessory on the user. Rouge had a belt, Silver has a waist sash, Blaze had an arm bracelet, Amy had a bow in her hair, Cosmo had a pair of rings, and Sonic and Shadow already had gauntlets.

"Can you see anything, Marine?" Mercury asked

Marine had on a pair of binoculars. "Yeah, an army of blue hooded freaks at our twelve. " suddenly multiple blue agents show up in front of everyone. "Whoa….that was fast" Marine checks to see if she was wearing her binoculars the right way. She was.

"This is as far as you go, Cramoisi stink" The air suddenly gets cold as a gust of snow blows near the Blue agents. The gust reviles a Navi Marcoat wearing a blue and cyan robe. He uncovers his hood and reviles to be a navy blue shrew. "At last we meet"

"I take it you're the one in charge of this army?" Shadow asked

"Yes…and you're the ones who killed my brothers, Termonos and Pyraz. I'm here to avenge for their folly." He draws his weapons that were a pair of long hooks. "I'm going to enjoy freezing you and showing you to Master Klaus"

"You're not freezing anyone" Shadow and the others bring out their weapons.

"Shadow, leave the grunts to us" Mercury gets into a fighting pose.

"Oh, it's not too late for you to change your minds, Dusk raiders. Team up with me, and I will ask master for his forgiveness and you will be handsomely rewarded. "

"We'll get rewarded, after captain Richter takes DonZor's treasure" Mercury said.

"Here's what the dusk raiders think about your deal!" Jazz said making a tomato grow from the ground and throwing it at the Marcoat.

"BAHHHH!" The Marcoat wipes the tomato off his face.

"Ha ha! Good one!" Marine said.

"Little brat! You dare throw a tomato at the great **Geliu (Gu-el-e-u) **?"

"Geliu? What's that, the name of some dead artist or something?" Shadow asked while the others laughed

"Grrrrr NO! It was my name years ago and it still is! I am the great warrior the council that served under a **grand kingdom!"**

"And what kingdom is that, sir knight?" Rouge sighed.

"Not your concern. Or at least it won't be after I'm through with all of you…and there is plenty of room in hell for your treacherous dusk raiders as well! Those who serve under the name of the Cramoisi will be dammed for life! I call on you to come and destroy my enemies! Come forth my servant! " Behind Geliu came out a massive guardian. This one had a more feminine figure to it with a long robe and a hood and mask to cover its face. "Shiva, freeze this land and the Cramoisi along with it! Charge!"

The Cramoisi and raiders arm themselves for battle.

_**((((Marcoat Battle: Geliu )))))))**_

Geliu hovers in the air and flies back with his guardian. Shadow and Rouge start running after him. The Guardian shoots out a ball of ice into the air that makes snow fall from the sky, it then starts freezing the landscape. Shadow jumps up and swings his sword at Geliu. "YAH!" Geliu shoots out an icy wind from his hand trying to freeze him. Blaze jumps in front of the wind and makes a fiery shield with her fire lance. Shadow flies forward trying to get to Geliu, but the guardian swings its hand at him swatting him to the ground. Geliu flies down back to Shadow smiling. "Now…how can you strike me if you can't even get to me?" Shadow quickly gets up to attack Geliu, but Geliu was jumping back avoiding every attack Shadow made. "This is sad!" Geliu runs his hook through shadow's stomach. Shadow could feel the hook going through him and slowly freezing his insides; he quickly pulls back holding his stomach. "YA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! Now that's some serious frostbite! DA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Shadow quickly disappears from his spot. "What? OHH!" Geliu was then kicked in the face by Rouge. Shadow then reappears above Geliu and fires a chaos spear through his body. "GAH-HAAAAA!" Shadow then kicks him in the face followed by a punch, then a uppercut sending him in the air. Shadow follows him and swings his sword at him sending Geliu flying in a different direction. Shadow quickly flies at him again and swings his sword sending Geliu to a wall. Shadow goes to attack him one more time, but Geliu blocks his attack with his hooks. "Proud of yourself, hedgehog?"

"Very" Shadow flies back and aim's his bladegun at Geliu and fires. "Black Chaos spear!" A purple bullet fires at Geliu blows him to the ground.

"UGHAH!" Geliu slowly gets back up looking at Shadow float back down. Shadow then looks at the other Jema on his gauntlet and takes it out. The Jema then materializes to be a large shield.

"You've got to be kidding me" Shadow shakes his head. looking at the shield with violet marks.

"If you're finished admiring that plate…we have a battle to finish! Geliu dashes at Shadow; Shadow blocks the attack with the shield. Geliu was then blown back about twenty feet, and flies back into the wall. "It…it deflected my attack?"

Shadow looks at his shied and smiles. "Recoil, nice"

The Guardian behind Geliu looks and him, panting on the ground. It looks around and sees Rouge behind Shadow. It grabs Rouge without warning and throws her in the air and fires a blue laser from its eyes. Rouge quickly avoids the laser and flies down to its face kicking it and lands on a nearby ledge. The guardian looks at Rouge looking at it; Rouge takes a deep breath and starts screaming unleashing a massive sonic sound wave that makes the guardian move back covering its ears. "Oh come on" Rouge said after she stopped screaming. "My singing isn't that bad" She then jumps up and kicks the guardian again and screams at its face. This time she could see it's glowing core on it's chest; she jumps at the core and kicks it hard and screams at stone. The scream slowly starts to shatter the stone. Geliu looks up and shoots out a freeze ray from his hand that blows Rouge away. She falls to the ground nearly half frozen.

Geliu slowly walks up to Rouge and lifts his hook ready to finish her off. "You shall be the first of many to feel my. GAHHHH!" Rouge screeches at Geliu's face making him step back. Shadow then shows up and cuts Geliu's chest and then cuts in again at the same spot.

"You talk too much" Shadow said shooting another Chaos spear.

Geliu gets blown away but he still holds his ground. "I've underestimated you"

"Pyro blaster!" Geliu gets blown back from an attack from behind. Blaze was standing behind him along with Silver. Sliver runs up with his katana and swings it at Geliu but he blocks the attack. While Silver was fighting Geliu Shadow kneels down in pain from the inside of his body; part of it was still frozen. "Shadow" Blaze runs over igniting her hands.

"Forget about me, help Rouge!" Shadow said kneeling down.

Blaze nods and shoots a small fire ball at Rouge defrosting her. Rouge slowly gets up, shivering. "T-Thanks" She jumps up and starts flying back at the guardian who was fighting alongside Geliu against Silver. Blaze jumps in and swings her spear at the guardian's arm making a flaming gash. She then cuts the other arm making the guardian fly back. Blaze finally does an upper cut to the guardian's face. "Screwkick!" Rouge jumps in the air and spins around aiming her feet at the exposed core. She kicks the core shattering it to pieces. The guardian lets out a powerful shriek and melts into water.

"No!" Geliu shouted. "GAH!" he was then stabbed in the chest by Shadow.

Shadow looks up at Geliu's face. "Checkmate" he kicks Geliu as he falls to the ground. He then keels down still in pain from the ice in his body.

Blaze walks over and looks at the ice impaled in Shadow's body. "Can you please defrost him?" Rouge asked

"Not if you want a cooked husband" Blaze answered "Give it some time."

_**The ruffian and the pacifist **_

Chrome was on the other side of the valley finishing off his battle. Dwayne looks at his purple-black jema and changes it back into a stone. "That was most impressive Dwayne you've gotten better with your two elements" said Chrome

"Thanks so have you" Dwayne said looking back

"Uh Hello! Guy with the machine guns remember?" said Dennis

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know you were fighting" said Dwayne

"Gee thanks!" he said sarcastically.

Chrome then felt a strong wind blow from the distance. "Mmm…that's freezing temps (temperatures)

"They must be having quite a party over there" Dwayne said crossing his arms.

"I'll check it out" Chrome said.

"We'll catch up later!" Dennis said

Chrome was jumping across the valley getting over to the north side. He looks down and sees the Cramoisi and the raiders fighting the cobalt shroud. It looked like fighting on a ice cold mountain. "Looks like the party has already started. " He looks up to the sky and sees that it was snowing. "Snow? It can't be unless…."

"Mr. Chrome!" Chrome turns around and sees Zeke running over to him panting. "*pant* I..*pant* I want to fight too!"

"Zeke….you're serious?" Chrome asked "You're not much of a fighter"

"Come on…I want to help Tawny! Please sir!"

Chrome looks at Zeke's face and sees he was determined. "Very well. Chrome reaches in behind his cape and gives Zeke a sword. "Take this, this was mine before my mother….gave me hers. Take good care of it"

"Oh, thank you Mr. Chrome, you won't regret this"

"I have a feeling I won't" Chrome grabs on to Zeke's hand and flies down to the battle. "I'm going to clear a path. You take care of the stragglers"

"Yes sir!" Chrome draws his sword and swings it horizontal creating a large destructive wave of ice bring down at least five enemies at once. Zeke draws his sword and points it at a few of the upcoming agents. The agents run at Zeke. "AHHH!"

"ZEKE!" Zeke suddenly sees Tawny running at two of the shroud members and decapitate them with blades on her arms. She sees more coming at Zeke and stabs them in the chest. "what are you doing? They could have killed you!"

"I..I was only trying to help" Zeke said nervously "I want to fight too!" A blue agent comes from behind swings its sword. Zeke quickly turns around and blocks the attack with his sword. He looks dead into the cold blue eyes of the agent, and starts to quiver. The agent smiles at Zeke knowing he's got him beat. Suddenly his arm gets cut off.

Zeke looks and sees Jayden holding an ax. "Zeke! Finnish him!" Zeke looks the agent swinging his other sword wildly and steps back. He felt like attacking but was still to hesitant to even thinking about killing someone.

In an instant Tawny appears in front of him and she stabs the agent in the chest making him fall. "Zeke" Tawny looks at the others fighting while having her back turned. "If you're not going to fight. Then just go back the ship. We can't have someone weak as you risking his life"

Zeke gasped after hearing that. He takes a few steps back. Tawny goes back to the fight and starts fighting off the agents. Zeke looks down and closes his eyes. He had never felt like this; never in his life did he have to fight for his life. He had to fight his uncle a few times but it was nothing like this. The words of Tawny continue to echo in his head. "I..I..can..help..."

_**Second wind**_

Chrome was running toward the aid of the others. He saw Shadow knelt on the ground suffering from the ice in his body. "Everyone" He then turns and sees the fallen Marcoat slowly get back up. "Glad to see you all are ok."

"Yeah…most of us.." Rouge said looking at Shadow.

"Not to worry. I freeze Richter all the time just to get him to shut up. " Chrome gets out a strap that had multiple shots. "Alice developed this serum herself. He walks over and gives it to Shadow. "You'll feel a slight increase in body heat but you should be fine, also considering the fact that you…"

"Are dammed for life?" Everyone turns around and sees the Geliu slump over to the others. "Clearly, I'm not match for you…" Everyone can feel a cold wind blow around them. "I admit defeat, Cramoisi"

"Do you now?" Chrome was curious to know after putting the strap away "You know, your comrade wasn't as noble as you. Do you think you are able to compete with one who is an ice element prodigy?"

"Oh no…master Chrome….." Geliu steps back and bows down in front of everyone as the wind gets stronger. "Clearly, everyone has me outmatched. I have no reason to fight back."

"Are you really going to listen to that rat?" Silver holds up his sword.

As they were looking at Geliu Zeke runs up with his sword looking from a distance. He could see the wind blowing into a circle around Geliu. "I'll prove I can be a real fighter" He runs up closer to the others. While running into more agents.

Geliu slowly ascends to the air as the icy wind swirls around him. "I now leave you Cramoisi, farewell" the icy wind slowly swallows him up.

"I'm not buying it!" Silver shouted jumping into the icy wind.

Silver was then sucked into the icy wind as it was slowly clearing up. Everyone gasped as they looked at Silver. He was being grabbed by a large blue creature with large arms and large legs. They could all see Geliu in the center of the creature nearly undressed with his eyes wide opened he turns and looks at Silver was his bloodshot eyes smiles with a crazed grin. "Ha ha ha…you're not as stupid as you LOOK!" The creature slams Silver down on the ground. Silver looks at the creature one last time before losing consciousness.

Geliu looks down at the four who were in shock. **" Behold Cramoisi fools, my true form!** **Glochese (Go-lock-keys) Deity!** **Now we can have some real fun**!" Both of his hands form into a large cannon the fires a large ice beam. Everyone jumps out of the way and could see that the blast made a large ice pillar.

_**(((((Marcoat Deity Battle; Glochese))))**_

_**((Note: The Creature that has merged with Geliu is one person. So the creature will be refered to as Geliu **_

"**I'll burry you in ice!" **

"Lost his mind he has" Chrome said getting ready.

"I'm getting tired of this guy. Let's get this over with" Shadow said

Geliu moves his arms up in the air and shoots out a ray of ice that makes it snow harder. He then starts to make a large ball of ice from his hand and throws it at Shadow. Shadow puts his shield up and makes the ball reflect at Geliu. Too surprised to evade Geliu gets hit by the ball of ice; Rouge and Blaze jump up at Geliu's body and attack it at different places. Geliu ignores the pain and looks at Chrome fighting off agents. He lifts his hand and it extends forming into a spear shooting right at Chrome. Chrome was too preoccupied to notice, and the spear runs through the ground. Geliu smiles at his small victory but then frowns in fear as he sees Chrome slowly ascend from his right shoulder.

"I must say, you've exceeded even me when it comes to making it cold. I'm impressed. But…" Chrome's body temperature starts to decrease and his body starts to get colder and colder than normal. "How exactly cold can you make it?"

"**Colder that you can even imagine**" Geliu said while still smiling.

"Try me" Chrome said calmly and pointing his sword at him. Geliu grabs Chrome's sword and slowly starts to freeze it.

"Not…a smart move"

"**Huh?" **

Chrome moves his fingers points to the ground. "Let's see how heavy you are. Gravity trap; negative 50g"

"**Wha…what?"** Both of them start floating in the air and glowing blue.

"Huh. About 500 pounds. So that means….mmm….hmmm…" Chrome starts counting with his fingers and snaps his fingers. "Gravity trap; 44g" Both of them come crashing down breathing through the large sheet of ice and snow on the ground. Chrome then jumps up and swings his sword downward creating a large crescent shaped blue wave that creates a big cut through Geliu. Shadow jumps in and swings his sword, but Geliu catches the attack as he gets back up, using his arm to block the attack. Shadow swings his shield into Geliu's arm making him throw his arm back. Shadow then relentlessly attacks him.

_**((Battle Intermission)))) **_

Chrome looks at Shadow fighting Geliu off. "Now that I've calculated your girth, let's see if we can't subtract…."

"Chrome!" Chrome turns around and sees Mercury running up to him panting.

"What is it, Mercury?"

"You..*pant*….you're not going to believe this." Both of them turn around and see multiple blue agents being knocked around and piling up against one another. Chrome then sees someone jump out of the crowd and right in front of the two. It was Lori welding two of the blue agents blades.

"How did she escape?" Chrome asked

"She had a little help" Mercury points at Rouge

"What? I wanted her to run away or maybe Cream and Rocky could have made her Cramoisi. " Rouge said

"Well you should have bitten her while she was in the cell" Blaze said

"I wanted her to see what we do, then maybe she'll learn that we're the good guys. She's not going to learn that while being in the cell"

"And I thank you for releasing me" Lori walks up pointing her sword at Chrome. "Now I can finish what I started." She then starts shivering from the cold around her.

"Oh she's shivering" Mercury pointed out "You don't seem ready to get your revenge either"

"B…be quiet!" She said holding up her swords but struggling to keep them up. "I'm going to finish you.."

"But I haven't gotten Claw like I promised. What happened to our deal?"

"Deals off! Whoa!" Lori was still having trouble carrying her sword.

"And she's having a hard time carrying that sword" Chrome added "maybe you should learn to wield a sword before you try to"

"YAHHH!" Lori drops one of her swords and swings at Chrome with the other one.

Chrome steps back with every swing. "Someone who swings their sword so recklessly is just throwing their life away" She continues to swing her sword at Chrome.

Meanwhile Shadow was still fighting Geliu; who was panting trying to keep his balance. Shadow had dominated him in battle; no matter how many times he attacked Shadow would always repel it with his shield and strike with his sword. But Geliu wasn't going to go down so easily; he lifts his arms shoots out another ice ray. Shadow flies out of the way, but he sees the ray heading toward Lori. Lori looks at the large beam about to hit her and was too shocked to move. The blast hits her leaving a large ice pillar. Mercury and Rouge look in shock All they see is the large ice pillar standing there. They look around and look at the top of the pillar, and see Chrome holding Lori bridal style.

Lori looks at Chrome looking at Geliu and then down at her. "Are you Ok?"

"You…saved me…." Lori said looking at him but then shaking her head. "Let me go!"

"Ok" Chrome said about to drop her down a twenty foot drop.

"No no! never mind! Please!" She hugs Chrome tightly with her eyes shaking.

"For an assassin" Chrome jumps down and slowly hovers down to the ground. "You don't seem very calm under pressure" he lets Lori down and gets out two pairs of cuffs for her arms and ankles and puts them on. She looks at him with an angry look. "Now you stay put and let the grown ups handle this" Chrome jumps up and flies at Geliu.

"This isn't over!" Lori shouted

_**((((Battle continue))))) **_

Zeke looks at Chrome and Shadow fighting; he holds his sword and starts running after Geliu. Tawny looks at Zeke running as she was finishing off more agents. "What is doing?"

Geliu was throwing down his arms at Shadow and blowing icy winds at Shadow with his breath. Shadow disappears using chaos control and reappearing on Geliu's person and blowing up using chaos blast causing small parts of his armor to fall off. Chrome swings his sword in different vital parts on Geliu; however the armor was too strong for him to even make a dent. When Chrome flies back and was about to strike again he sees Zeke running after Geliu with his sword. "Zeke! Stand back!"

"NO!" Zeke shouted while still running. "I'm going to show you all I am strong!" He then stops and looks at Chrome. "Forgive me for my rudeness" He then starts running again.

"ZEKE! STOP!" Tawny shouted running after him. "No, I'm not going to make it!"

Zeke jumps in the air surprisingly pertly high; he then spins around in a circular motion. His spin creates a circular blade made of green energy and wind. He was a practically spinning green buzz saw. Chrome and Tawny were astonished at the display.

"What…the…" Tawny says staring at Zeke.

"That's…that's a med (medium) level wind move. How did a human…" Chrome tried to say.

Zeke cuts through Geliu's arm. He screams in pain as his arm falls and crashes on the ground. Zeke jumps down and turns back at Geliu who was screaming in rage. "Did…did I do that?"

"**YOU!" **Geliu screamed staring at Zeke as he was stepping back quivering. "**I'll kill you I'll kill you!" **He roars in unspeakable rage and starts winging his one arm wildly. **"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! Kill, Kill, Kill!"** Geliu slams his fist on the ground and shoots out rays of ice at him with his eyes. Zeke does his best to avoid the attacks; Tawny was almost their but, did not arrive soon enough. Geliu finally friezes Zeke's leg. Zeke falls down and drops his sword. Zeke turns and sees Geliu point his sharp finger at him. His finger nail was as long and as sharp a double edge sword. "Now die!"

Tawny was too late. The nail had impaled through Zeke's chest. Geliu pulls his nail back and laughs maniacally. Tawny runs over to Zeke looking at his blood come out to fast to stop, still breathing, but barley. Tawny kneels down with tears in her eyes. Zeke's eyes looked soulless as he stares at Tawny. "Tawny…".he said quietly. "I..I was stupid…sorry.."

Rouge and Mercury run over to Zeke. Tawny turns at Geliu growling with rage. "You'll pay for that!"

"Tawny stop!" Rouge shouted.

"RAHHHHH!" Tawny flies at Geliu with great speed. She tries to bring him down by grabbing his arm, but Geliu grabs her even at her speed and throws her down on the ground and shoots her with blue ray beam. Tawny was lying on the ground with her clothes tattered and bruises all over her. Fortunately all the beam did was freeze her arms legs . "Ze..ke…." Tawny said before losing consciousness.

Lori looks at Geliu and Chrome and Shadow were fighting. "Why would they care about children" She thought.

Chrome was looking at Geliu as he was laughing maniacally, Shadow looks at Tawny who was taken down and knocked out. He then looks at his weapons and throws them in the air. The two of them then break apart into small crystals and then fuse together forming a large weapon. The weapon slowly floats down; it was a giant cannon-shaped gun with a blade at the end. "Now this is the ultimate weapon" he takes the gun and points at Geliu's back. Chrome looks around and sees the ice melting. He slowly starts to float in the air, as the air around him starts to get colder and colder.

"Oh, no" Mercury looks at the stone Chrome had given her and sees that it was glowing brighter and brighter feeling hot. "Chrome's very upset. The temperature only drops this low when he's mad." Lori looks at Chrome as a cold wind was blowing around him

"**What…what are you doing?"** Geliu said **"It…it's gotten colder….so much colder….**

"What's that?" Chrome asked "I thought you said you could make it colder than I could imagine. Let me let you in on something….." Chrome points his sword as it was glowing. "This...isn't even the coldest I can make it"

"**LIAR!" **

"Oh…no….." The cold wind turns into a fierce blizzard but it seems like the blizzard was only around were Chrome and Geliu were. "If you thought the artic was cold…you haven't seen anything yet. You may have been able to freeze this land, but my cold is strong enough to freeze even baron deserts.

"**So what? Your element is my element! You can't hurt me, even if you tried. Are you saying you can out match even me?" **

"Not exactly, I just wanted you to see how cold I can make it. This also sets the stage, at this very moment…you're trapped here"

"**What makes you say that**?"

Chrome lifts his sword in the air and slowly turns it like moving the hands of a clock. He spins it around making a large circle. He then holds it up to the sky. "Wrath of the stars:"

Shadow charges his gun while pointing it at Geliu, both of his hands were on the gun while it was charging up. He was using all his dark energy along with his Cramoisi spirit to power up the gun. "Ready…."

A large purple and blue light comes down on Chrome's sword that came from space. Chrome then shouts while glowing white. "Wrath of the stars: Cosmic slash!" He swings his sword down creating a massive crescent shaped light that cuts through Geliu like a hot knife through butter. His shoulder was cut up along with his other arm. He screams in shear pain. "All yours Shadow"

"Blow away; Chaos wrath destroyer!" A large immense ray comes out of Shadow's gun that completely engulfs Geliu's body slowly breaking him apart.

"**No…no…NOOOOOOOOO! I can't believe I lost to this scum!" **When the blast ended there was nothing left but a large rut from the laser.

_**(((((Marcoat Deity Battle; Glochese: Boss defeated))))**_

_**Shadow; I'm getting stronger**_

_**Chrome: Another Marcoat down.**_

_**A Dragon in the mist**_

Not too far from where the others were. Jazz, Iris and Zoomer were fighting off another group of agents. "It's so cold" Jazz said. Jazz has been trying to use her powers, but the intense cold was too much for her. "This is nuts. It's colder here that it was at that ice mountain (See chapter 6 of OD for Details)" Jazz still keeps her sword lit with fire and continues to slice up agents, and throws seeds in the air at ten of them covering them up with vines and strangling them. She kneels down and pants while trying to melt the snow around her. "I…I'm nearly at my limit…"

Zoomer sees agents coming at Jazz who was getting close to laying on the snow. He looks around and sees a river running under the sheet of ice below him; he then focuses on the water below and shoots it out from the sheet of ice like a geyser. He then brings the water to him and forms a massive wave and moves it toward the agents while running to catch Jazz bridal style. He then looks at the agents being pulled into the freezing cold water.

"Alright! You got this down pretty good!"

"It's a start. Watch this!"

Zoomer jumps in the air looking at t some more agents still surrounded by water. He focuses all his energy at the water around the agents. "Roaring waters; Mad Torrent!" He shoots the water up creating a massive vortex of water that freezes all the agents in place.

"Hey Genius! You nearly drowned me!" said Iris all wet and shivering.

"Oops" Zoomer said with a sweet drop "Sorry"

"Trying to focus here" Iris was up against a whole hoard of agents with knives and swords. Iris closes her eyes and focuses all her energy on her hands, and then all the agents stop right in their tracks; she then lifts her hands and spins then all around in the air. Amy, Tails and Cosmo run up to the floating thugs, get out their weapons and beats them all down. Iris stops spinning them and they all drop to the ground lifeless. Amy looks at the thugs and throws some light seeds down and starts collecting more blood cores into a black urn.

"Like picking strawberries" Amy said giggling "How are you all doing? We just got back from the other side. Everything is pretty much taken care of over there"

"I saw the whole thing! Nice going, Iris" said Cosmo

"Thank you!" she said with confidence "Just doing what comes natural!"

Everyone was taking down all of Agent with their supernatural skill. While Jazz was fighting she looks up and sees something on top of hill. A person was standing watching them fight. He was a red lion with spiky red hair and orange eyes. He was wearing a blue trench coat with black and red pants and, with a three black belts on his waist, a long blue collar covering his mouth, a cape that when down from his waist to his feet with a red dragon on it. He jumped down and saw the rogues and Cramoisi fighting. Jazz sees the lion walk up to the group.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Stay back" said the lion taking out wide swords with a strange design. He runs to the agents, slaying each and every one of them in one slice. He strikes down so many agents and robots in less than a minute. Before any one could say anything, the lion must have taken down nearly three quarters of the agents in less than five minutes. He then stabs the earth with his two swords and a ring of fire surrounds him and two small fire dragons come out from the ground. "Rain scorching flames: Red Dragon Maelstrom!" A massive flame comes out of the ring and burns nearly almost every standing agent and active bot while melting the ice. .

"Now It's my turn! Dwayne comes running at the last group of remaining bots and jumps up in the air. "Engulfing nightmare!" His body unleashes a sound wave of black energy from the ground destroying the last of the agents and lackeys. Onyx and Rin-Rin saw the massive power of both Dwayne and the lion.

Onyx was very overwhelmed. "Do you think he can teach me that move?" he asked as he marveled at his power.

"The giant dragon one or the shadowy wave one?" said Rin-Rin

"You guys are here too?" Jazz asked

"Everything's pretty much taken care of on the other side, and….the guys now owe Richter ice cream" Rin-Rin said smiling

"Ha ha…there goes my bonus for this mouth" Onyx said.

"Doesn't this cold weather feel great?" Rin-Rin spins around laying back in the snow.

"No.." Jazz said shivering still. "That lion may have made it warm but I can still feel the cold.

Chrome walks over looking at everyone.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Chrome coming in.

"Yeah everyone's accounted for" said Shadow.

"Almost everyone…" Mercury looks at Zeke still struggling to keep his breath.

"Couldn't you take him to Alice?" Rouge asked.

"We can't move him like this" Cosmo said.

Tawny was waking up she quickly gets up and looks around, the ice around her had melted. She then remembers where she was and what she was doing. She quickly gets up and runs over to the others. She kneels down in front of Zeke.

The lion walks up to the group. "My my….all of you seem to be in a better mood. This cold is starting to irritate my allergies."

"Hey Your…" Chrome looks at the red lion.

"**Ryan**" Dwayne said walking up from behind. "Fancy meeting you here"

"**Ryan**?" Shadow asked looking at the red lion.

'Howdy, fellow fighters" Everyone sees Sonic and Richter run up to the group and saw Zeke on the ground. "Oh no…" Tawny was over Zeke crying. Zeke was barely breathing looking at Tawny's face.

"Richter" Richter turns over and sees Chrome with Lori who was bound with hand and ankle cuffs. "Did everything go well?"

"Oh..yeah…" Richter said still looking "And you?"

"Well the robots are gone, all the thieves are dead, the Marcoat has been extinguished" said Chrome

"What about Ranaha?"

"Gone, he got away" said Dwayne

"Oh Man!"

"And DonZor" asked Dennis

"The head hunting General is now gravel!" said Richter satisfied

"Good" said the Lion walking up "That mean's Chun-Nan is free from the Criminal underground"

Richter gasped at who the lion was as he walks up and pats Richter on the back. "Hello, old friend! How are things, Richter?"

"**Ryan**? Is that you?' I can't believe it!" said Richter

"I'd love to catch up, Richter, but" the lion looks at Zeke and Tawny on the ground. "I'm afraid now is not the time"

"Zeke I'm so sorry I…" Tawny said weeping. "If I had backed you up as you were fighting…"

"It's Ok." he said in a raspy voice "I-I-I want-ted t-to be with you any-wa-yyy. I wanted to…*gasp* fight….i wanted to show….show you I…I was strong….too…."

"Zeke…you idiot! I don't care if you can't fight!" Tawny continues to cry. "You're not strong. I get it….but that doesn't mean I don't like you. You shouldn't have to play knight in shining armor just for me! I love you either way!"

Zeke was about to close his eyes, but he was smiling after hearing Tawny. "Th..ank…you…but….if you do love…me….then…then…do it….Go ahead do I-it…tawny…I…Lo…Lo…Lo..ohhh" Zeke closes his eyes.

Tawny had tears in her eyes, and was slowly weeping. She looks back at Sonic, who slowly nods. Tawny looks back. "Like I said, you'll be my first one" She then opens her mouth and bites Zeke's neck injecting her poison. She pulls back. Zeke's body starts shaking and slowly transforming. Everyone saw Zeke's body change slowly. Richter was felling an odd mixture of amazement and horror, but mostly horror.

"UUuuhhhh! UhhhhUhhhh AHHHHHH!" shouted Zeke as his body was changing

"Wow….ghastly! So this is the transformation you guys mention"" said Richter with his hand over his mouth.

"Such a horrid look." Chrome still looks at the transformation.

Onyx was holding Rin-Rin as she was looking away. Zenith, Blade and Mercury and the others were just starring. Nai was closing his eyes while Jem was starring happy. Jazz and Iris where holding each other. Lori stares at Zeke with wide eyes. "What...what are you people?"

"UUHHHhhhh AHHHHHHHH ahhhhhhhhhh…" A pair of white fangs appear in Zeke's mouth as he was changing, white claws extend from his hands and feet. His body was rocking against the ground; He was ripping his shirt up to try to endure the pain. Finally two large wings grow on his back. He lays down and exhales his breath. On his right arm, the Cramoisi mark appears.

"Welcome home, brother" Jayden said smiling Tawny picks him up and starts walking back to the ship.

"It's finished" said Sonic as the others followed the two.

Suddenly two figures instantly show up in a red cloud in front of Sonic and Shadow. They both were wearing white and black mask with red eyes and in red robes. They look at Rouge and Amy and hit them in the chest pushing them on the ground. Both hedgehogs bring out their swords and attack the hooded figures, but they were too fast even for them to catch. The instantly disappear like they were stepping through an invisible portal. They then reappear in font of Amy and Rouge and spray out a green gas that knocks them out; they quickly grab them and disappear. Sonic and Shadow look around trying to find them but they were gone.

"Amy…." Sonic looks down trying to think

"Sonic!" Shadow grabs Sonic by the shirt. "Why the hell are you mopping? Let's find them! You still have her scent, right?"

"Oh…right…" Sonic keeps forgetting of his new Cramoisi skills. He closes his eyes to concentrate. All he sees is darkness; but then images of everything that was around him become visible only still black similar to his Cramoisi vision. He then sees a pink and white trail leading up the jagged valley. Without hesitation he spreads his wings and starts flying up the valley. Shadow wasn't too far behind.

"Good luck, Sonic" Tails looks up seeing him fly away.

Sonic still has his eyes closed as he was looking at the pink trail; below them the long wall, and a huge palace with brick roads that looked like dragons. They fly all the way to the other side of the palace and swoop down on the great wall and look at a large building that was part of the wall. They both look around and see that the trail ends here.

"Where are they?" Shadow growls looking around with his sword in hand.

"Don't know"

"Ah…how delightful" Both hedgehog turn around and look up seeing the red robed man with the rapped up face. Sonic looks at the people beside him and see the two masked men holding Amy and Rouge. "I can see two knights looking for their brides"

"You!" Sonic looks at the man and recognizes him. "That guy from the beach…" (Waaaaaayyyyy back in chapter one of the first book) "So I wasn't hallucinating after all"

"Give them back" Shadow points his blade at the man.

"Is that supposed to intimidate me, young Shadow? You're sister seem a little more polite"

"Fear? How do you know about Fear?" Shadow shakes his head and flies up to the man trying to stay focused on the subject. The three men then disappear.

Sonic was looking at Shadow fly all the way up. He jumps up into the sky but then hears something echo in his head.

"_..e's here_

Sonic flies all the way up to the top of the building. The two of them run across the top of the building and see the wall below them. They both jump down and see someone standing across from them. The two hedgehogs look around for their women, but still can't see them, even with their Cramoisi vision.

"…_is..it…."_

Sonic walks up closer to the figure standing in front of him looking over the great wall.

"…_e….care….l…is…on….who….pro….e…ight…." _

"Who are you?" Sonic finally asked

The figure slowly turns his head showing them the rest of him. He was a silver wolf wearing jeans and black boots. He stares at the two and sighs. "Two hedgehogs. You're not who I'm looking for" Sonic stares at the wolf in question. He then remembers that he saw the same wolf in his dream. He didn't know why. Could it be coincidence? Or maybe he might be seeing things, but he was right there plan as day.

"What has that man done with her?" points his blade at the figure "did you do something?"

"No" the man said quickly. "Listen carefully, I'm looking for the **Exen of Earth**. I want to talk with him."

"Who the hell is that?" Shadow asked

"What's an Exen?" Sonic asked

The wolf sighs out of annoyance. "Why am I wasting my time explaining?" He murmurs to himself. He then speaks to the two. "One of twelve of the strongest criminals in the grand Mafia. The **Exen of earth** is one of them. My sources tell me that you know about him. Now…tell me where I can find him."

"Powerful…criminal…" Sonic thinks for a minute. When the wolf says earth and criminal he could think of one thing. "Is he talking about Richter." Sonic looks at the wolf "I'm not telling you were he is unless you tell me where my woman is"

"Fine" The wolf suddenly makes two blades appear in his hand. He looks at the two arming their weapons. "I don't have time for this, but i'm going to make you talk no matter what."

_**(((Rival battle: Unknown Silver wolf))))))**_

Sonic quickly runs up with his bade but the wolf disappears before Sonic's eyes. Sonic looks around but does not see the wolf reappear behind him and hit him in the back with the hilt of his sword. Shadow flies at the wolf and swings his sword, but was blocked by the wolf's other sword. Shadow jumps backwards and jumps back at the wolf; the wolf jumps back and on to the edge on the wall and starts jumping backwards, Sonic gets back up and starts running on the edge of the wall after him and getting close enough to swing his sword one more time. The wolf then disappears again; Shadow runs up close to and looks for the wolf. Suddenly five blades appear around them and shock them with a mysterious red energy. The wolf then swoops down in the middle slashing them in the chest. They started to fall of the wall, but both caught the wall with their swords and swing back up and both try to strike the wolf. The wolf blocks the attacks and pushes them back in the sky. Both hedgehogs start flapping their wings flying; they both look at the wolf control the five swords making three more appear around him. Six of them move up to his back in a formation making them look like wings. He holds the other two swords with his hands, one normal and the other backhanded; he then jumps down and swings his swords at the two hedgehogs. Sonic flies back and summons his shield and charges at the wolf with his shield. He then throws the wolf off balance making him drop his guard. Sonic then swings his sword making a large ray of light shoot right at him blowing the wolf back, Sonic then flies at the wolf to attack him again with the ray of light and shoots him into the sky, he then flies up to swing at him one last time, but the wolf regains his consciousness and blocks the attack. Both were staring at each other as their weapons were colliding. In an instant Shadow appears beside the wolf and punches him in the face throwing him back down on the long dragon road. Both hedgehogs swoop down and look at the wolf slowly get up; looking down at his broken sunglasses. He turns around and looks at the two reveling his crimson red eyes, one of his eyes had black sclera (white part of the eyes) . "What the…." Sonic looks into the wolf's eyes, before he knew the wolf was in front of him and shadow; he then lets out a large red electric attack from his hands, blowing them both against the building.

Sonic strains to get up looking at the wolf walk closer to him lifting his sword. Suddenly the red robed man instantly appears in front of the hedgehogs. He turns around and looks at the wolf. "That's enough, **Nero**. You are wasting your time"

"**Nero?"** Sonic repeats the name slowly getting up.

"Don't give me orders, old man" The silver wolf says in a shrill tone. "Trenzel or not, I'm not going to let you…."

The man turns back at Sonic and picks him up abruptly and runs a blade through Sonic's chest. Sonic gasped in pain as he felt the sword run through him and feels it come out of his chest. Sonic kneels down panting in pain. He looks at the wolf and the man, still panting and dripping purple blood. "Now watch…" Sonic looks at his cut slowly close up while glowing. The wolf looks in amazement at his gash recover as if it was never made. "As you can see, trying to fight him, is pointless. You can go on for hours and hours, maybe even longer. It will result in a never ending battle."

"Hey!" Sonic gets up looking at the two. "What's going on? Who are you people? Why did you attack me?"

The man turns at Sonic and Shadow who was getting up as well. He then snaps his fingers and in an instant the two masked figures show up standing on the two edges of the wall with Amy and Rouge; they jump down and put the two girls down. Amy and Rouge run up and hug their men as they hugged back. Sonic then turns back at the man.

"You were good at fighting, Sonic the hedgehog. You too Shadow, much better than your battle with Fear. Perhaps you will be ready for the battle at hand. And Nero" The man turns around looking at the wolf who was glaring at him. "If you were to meet the Exen of earth now, you could damn the entire city"

"What?" The Sliver wolf exclaimed

"I had no intentions for you and Richter to meet at this time, but you will meet him when the time is right"

Nero looks at the man as he makes his weapons disappear. "Fine. This better not be a trick"

"You must trust me Nero. Once the manifest works its way through the brothers, your time to meet him will come. Now Cramoisi, I shall take my leave. Come you two"

"Yes, master" the masked figures instantly disappear along with the red robed man. Sonic sees the man disappear and looks at Nero who was looking at him. Nero quickly turns around and jumps on the edge of the wall with his back turned.

"Wait just a minute!" Nero turns his head to look at Sonic. "This Exen of earth, do you mean Richter Solairte?"

There was a long silence as the winds blow. "Tell me, just how connected are you to one who can destroy the world? Sonic gasped with his eyes widened. "What do you know about them? Now can you tell if he's really a nice person?"

"What's it to you?" Amy asked walking up closer "Have you even met him? Just who do you think you are?"

"My name's Nero. I am the Exen criminal lord of Steel."

"What's an Exen?" Rouge scratches her head.

"The Elite Criminal unit, high ranking criminal lords, the very few that cause destruction around the world. "

"What?" the four gasp in shock.

"Just what do you mean by that?" Shadow asked

Nero turns away from the group. "Listen, do not let the Exen of earth go to **the savannah citadel** in **Mazzuri**"

"Why?" Sonic places his finger over his chin. "They don't like criminals?"

"I'm not asking you. If he even sets foot in that village, I will hunt you down"

"Did Klaus send you?" Shadow asked

"Who?" The wolf quirks his eye brow

"Master of the Cobalt Shroud" Amy added

"Never heard of him. I'm warning you hedgehog. You'll damn that village if he sets foot in there. Farwell." The wolf jumps back and falls down. The others run up and see Nero fly off with six swords hovering on his back.

Sonic looks at Nero fly away and turns away from the edge. "Amy, did they…"

"No.." Amy walks up to Sonic while smiling. "They didn't do anything to me. For some reason, their hearts weren't black, not even gray, but they weren't normal sinner's hearts at all. And that man, he was the same."

"They were actually kind of nice" Rouge adds. "All they said was" keep quiet, and we'll have you back with your partners soon'".

"Just who were those guys?" Amy puts her hands on the back of her head looking up. "So strange"

Shadow walks up and spreads his wings. "We should head back. The others are probably worried"

"Right!" Rouge jumps up in the air and flies with Shadow.

Amy was about to take off, until she looks back at Sonic who was still deep in thought. "Don't worry" Amy figured what was bugging her lover. "I have a feeling Richter won't betray us, he's weird, but his heart is gentle"

"Yeah" Sonic looks at Amy with a smile, but then has a vision of her being in that glowing coffin. He then pictures everyone else inclining the three figures that looked like Richter, Chrome and the same silver wolf in the glowing boxes as well. He then steps back and shakes his head.

"What's wrong Sonic?" Amy holds Sonic as he backs up.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Sonic said in a quick, shrill tone. "We should get going" Sonic jumps up in the air and flies off.

Amy looks at Sonic fly off with a worried look on her face. What could be wrong with him? Why was he acting like he was avoiding her. All these questions ran through her head as she spreads her wings and flies in the sky with him. "Oh..Sonic…."

((((TBC))))

Looks like there are some mysterious things happing for our heroes. What the man mean, with what he said? And who is this new character who showed up? Enough questions!

Find out what happens next time!

Blaze: Glad to see we were able to fix the problems around the village, but sadly things don't go so well when the cobalt shroud sees revenge for what happened last time. But this time Klaus himself shows up and he's doing everything he can to make sure we are all killed. Just what is this guy's problem? And why does he want us dead?"

"Next time;

The Second gate; hunt in the inner dark

_**Off panel**_

_**The Wrong Place at the wrong time P1**_

_**The swich**_

Richter was laying down in Alice's laboratory. He slowly wakes up and gets off the bed. For some reason he felt taller. He looks around and sees someone laying on the bed. He was shocked to see who was on. He saw an orange echidna just like him lying on the bed. He puts his hand over his face he slowly steps back. He turns around and sees Alice slowly crawl over to him smilinig. "Hi daddy"

"Sweetie" Richter looks around while asking. "Why is there another me on that bed?"

See for yourself." Alice puts up a large Mirror. Richter then gasped at what he was looking at

"Oh..my head…" the echidna slowly wakes up and sees where he was. He looks around and sees Tawny in the lab as well. Tawny looks at the echidna. "Wait….how am I here...when…" The echidna looks at his hand and could see that it wasn't his. He looks over at the mirror and can see Richter doing the same thing the echidna was doing. Richter looks and sees Tawny doing the same thing he was doing.

(Confused? Let me make it clear)

"Why is that echidna doing what I'm doing?" Tawny gets out of the bed and feels around her body. Richter was gasping looking at his hands his legs and feeling his…breast? They look at the mirror one last time.

Tawny and Richter: (AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH)

"THE HELL! I'M A HUMAN GIRL!" Richter shouted still feeling his breast.

"I'M A UGLY SMELLY OLD ECHIDNA!" Tawny screamed scratching her body.

"GIRL!"

"EDCHINA!"

Both: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Alice just lays there rolling in laughter.

"What the hell did you do?" Tawny grabs Alice by her shirt.

"Alice switched your bodies!"

"Explain now!" Richter said also coming up

"You guys did it to yourselves"

_Flashback _

_Tawny and Richter were fighting like always. Alice was showing everyone one of her inventions. "So, as you can see with this new device we can make food bigger and more healthy for you too"_

"_Very good Alice" Chrome said smiling "You've done a good job"_

"_Thanks Unchy Chrome" (Alice tries to Call him Uncle Chorme) "Alice has worked so hard and she's tired. She wanted everyone to see how hard she worked"_

"_YOU IDIOT!" Tawny picks Richter up and throws him at Alice._

"_OFFFF!" Richter crashes into Alice. Alice catches him and sees her invention was about to fall. She quickly grabs it before it falls. Alice sighs in relief. "HA! DIDN"T HURT!" "WHAA!" Richter dodges a large bowling ball that misses him, but hits the Machine off Alice's hands smashing it to pieces. _

"_WAHHHH!" she screamed_

"_DAAAHHHHH!" everyone else screamed_

_Alice just felt a shattering glass break behind her as she kneels down looking at her invention. "All…her work….all her hours…." She covers her face and starts weeping. _

"_Aw man…." Tawny walks closer her._

"_Don't cry sweetie…we'll make up for it" Richter runs her back_

"_Eee hee hee hee hee hee" Alice slams her fist on the floor._

"_Uhh..Alice" Richter and Tawny were confused hearing her laugh. _

_Alice then turns around with her body blue and little ghost that looks like her swarming around her. "OH HO HO HO HO HO HO!" They all swarm around the two. "You ruined everything." She says with a long grin. "You're going to pay Alice back alright! One hundred and ten-fold! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"_

"_AHHHHHH!" Richter and Tawny screamed being strangled._

_(They aren't really any ghost, the mood is just so intense that it feels like the little demons in Alice are coming out to play with those who made her sad. Alice doesn't have demons him her mind you. It's all Hypothetical)_

_End Flashback_

"So here we are!" Alice starts laughing again

"You better change us back or…" Tawny, who was in Richter's body, could see Richter, who was in her body, messing with her breast. "STOP THAT" Tawny swats Richter's hand away from her..er..Richter's breast. (Wow this is confusing)

"I can't help it! They feel like little pillows on your chest" Richter said still touching them. "Plus they are kind of heavy"

"Heavy?" Alice looks at the two still bickering. "I'm a C cup! They aren't that big"

"I don't know what that means, but they still feel weird"

"You are such an idiot! Why am I talking to you about this?"

"ENOGUH!" Alice bellowed. "This is why Alice swapped your bodies! Because of your fight, six months of work are now in pieces! Now you pay for making Alice start over." Alice said that last part under her teeth.

"Alice, how about…you change us back….and we can both help you rebuild or experiment."

"Mmmm…" Alice smiles while a rope comes down from the roof. "How about Alice works alone, and you guys don't. Thanks for dropping by"

"Dropping?" Both of them ask

"Bye!" Alice pulls the rope and they both fall through screaming and she laughs madly. "Oh…at times like this, Alice loves being a mad genius!"

How will all this turn out? Find out in the next chapter


	11. The Second Gate: Hunting the darkness

_Last time on Blue dusk_

_Sonic: *in the strange dimension looking at all his friends laying in red coffins* What….what is all this. *sees an Orange and white echidna, and a silver wolf in one*_

_Orange haired girl: *grabbing Sonic by the shoulders* You…you have to save them!_

_Sonic: From who….?_

_Orange haired girl: The…dark….one's….._

_Amy: What kind of dream do you have?_

_Sonic: Oh nothing…._

_Amy and Rouge: *looking at shiny rings in the large box* _

_Subterosioan: I see you like what you see, I can give them to you….. _

_Scarlet: Give me all four, and these two stones._

_Zeke: Chrome, I want to fight too!_

_Chrome: *gives him sword* Take this . _

_Tawny: Zeke! If you can't fight then stay out of our way!_

_Geliu: I will destroy you all!_

_Zeke: *Does a spinning wind attack on Geliu cutting off his arm* _

_Geliu: GAHHHHHH! You little imp! *freezes him on the legs and runs his blade through Zeke's chest* _

_Zeke: (Dying) I wanted to show everyone I could fight _

_Tawny: You idiot! You don't need to fight to prove that you're strong!_

_Sonic: *nods in front of Tawny* Do it._

_Tawny: *bites Zeke to change him* _

_Robbed man: Good to see you again, Sonic the hedgehog. Come for your lover?_

_Sonic: Where is she?_

_Nero: I'm looking for the exen of Earth_

_Robbed man:*in front of Nero* Now isn't the time to be looking for him. It wouldn't be best for you and Richter to meet right now._

_Sonic: Who are you?_

_Nero: My name is Nero, I am the Exen of Steel. Listen to me, do not let the Exen of earth go to the savannah citadel in Mazzuri, if you sets foot on me I'll hunt you down. _

_Sonic: When he said Exen of earth….did he mean Richter?_

_**Chapter 11**_

_**The Second Gate; Hunting the darkness**_

_**Flower Sisters**_

Tails was outside of the ship along with Cosmo waiting for the others to return. Tails was looking up at the large terra sunset, thinking about his own ship he left back at the castle. He falls back on the ground, still looking at the ship. Cosmo walks up and looks down at him smiling.

"Someone's a little moody" Cosmo sits down beside him and puts her arm over Tails' chest.

"I'm fine" Tails looks at Cosmo. "I keep thinking about how it all came to this. At first I was just a lonely fox who didn't know his way around. I keep wondering what would have happened if I never met Sonic. How my life would be if I didn't follow him."

"Mmmmm….and I keep wondering what would have happened if I never met you. I would have never been the way I am now" Cosmo jumps up while looking at the Terra Sunset. "Hey, I wonder…."

"What is it?" Tails gets back up

"Tails! Let's turn everyone on this ship into a Cramoisi! Just the two of us!"

"W-What?" Tails jumps to the idea.

"Just kidding!" Cosmo giggles while sitting back down. "Still….just knowing there are more of us makes me feel better. It feels so lonely…when you know you're the last of your kind"

Tails felt a little sad hearing Cosmo; the rest of her kind was destroyed with her being the sole survivor. Tails would know what it's like to be one of a kind, considering he had two Tails, but to lose everything you once cared about is another story. "I know I'm a Cramoisi now, but I still miss my family"

Tails sits down beside Cosmo. "Don't feel bad. I don't even know if my family is still alive. All we can do is just be happy that we have each other and honor the memory of your family."

"Can….can I still miss them?" Cosmo asked looking at Tails and hugging him, burying her face in his chest.

"Uhh…sure" before he knew it Tails felt Cosmo crying in his chest. He then feels tears come out of his eyes, even though he wasn't crying he could feel all of the sadness in Cosmo's heart. Tails hugs Cosmo as she continues to cry. "I won't let anything happen to you. I'll protect you" Tails was lost for words to say anything else, so all he could do was tell her how much he cared for her, that she wasn't too far from her new family.

"Excuse me" Tails and Cosmo look up at the ship's entrance and see Jem walking down.

Cosmo quickly gets up and wipes her face trying to hide her tears. "Oh, Jem. Uhhh..how much of that did you hear?"

"Are you really going to turn everyone into Cramoisi?" She asked in a joyful tone. "If you are, then I got first dibs!"

"Oh…yeah…I was only joking about that" Cosmo laughs along with Tails, then Jem joins in. After a few minutes, The three of them were sitting on the ground talking.

"I'm so sorry" Jem said with tears in her eyes. "I..I can't imagine what that is like, to lose everything you cared about."

"Thank you" Cosmo said "I'm sorry you have to see me like this"

"Ah don't worry about it. Richter always told me it's fine to cry if you lost someone….or when you don't get sugar" The three of them laugh again.

"Hey Jem" Tails stops laughing while talking to Jem. "Why are you a robian? Did you work for Eggman?"

"No" Jem looks at her robotic arm and shows the couple her robotic eye that was under her hair. "I've been like this my whole life." Back at the ship's entrance, Nai was standing there listening to the conversation. "When Nai and I were born, we were diagnosed with a disease that was incurable and fatal. The doctors said we only had three mouths. But then one day, one of my parents friends ,who was a machine specialist came to our aid. He spent days working on us trying to find a way to cure us. He did it, but it came with a price. I've never known the life of a true organic."

"I'm so sorry" Cosmo comes over and hugs Jem's shoulder.

"Is that why you want to be a Cramoisi?" Tails asked

Jem smiles looking at Tails. "Well…kinda…you could say if I fell in love with someone who wasn't roboticied I would know how it was to live like an organic, maybe even become one. When I heard of the Cramoisi, it got me thinking that maybe I it could change me into a real organic. I wouldn't worry about death either, and I would have a boyfriend who would look out for me."

"That's a nice thought" Tails said

"And, after hearing you, Cosmo….now I really want to be a Cramoisi now. I know that it's more than finding a lover and becoming an organic." Jem leans on Cosmo's shoulder. "I feel like you need a sister who cares about you. I know I'm not anything like your old family, but I'd be more than happy to be a part of your new one."

"Really?" Cosmo asked

"Sure! We **flower sisters** got to look out for each other right?"

"Flower sisters?" Cosmo was confused at first. Jem was just a young lady like herself, and she's willing to be a sister figure to her. She's only felt this way toward her Cramoisi siblings, but feeling by someone who isn't one of them was something that really moved her. It's been a long time since she has felt this way in front of anyone. Cosmo hugs Jem while laughing. "Yeah…you're right! Flower sister" Nai was still standing at the entrance looking at his robotic parts and sighing.

_**Families and Bonds**_

Silver was walking in the hallways to the mess hall while looking at his long white Katana. He stares at it as it was glowing brightly in his eyes.

"That's a fancy toothpick" Silver turns around and sees Zenith looking at him and patting him on the back. "Blaze told me what you did an excellent job killing off badies. But how did a runt like you end up with a sword like that?"

"Mother gave it to me" Silver was still looking at his sword. Both of them were approaching the door to the mess hall.

"Oh right, you mean your new mother." Zenith opens the door for him. "Do you remember your birth mother?"

"Not really" Silver sits down and looks at his sword. Not too far from the two Lori was sitting by herself away from everyone else in the room. "All I remember is my Dad…who I haven't seen in a while. What was our birth mother like?" Lori was listening in to the two hedgehog's conversation.

"Actually, she looked a lot like you. She was very kind, loving, and a hard working person. Mercury and I loved her a lot"

"So..what happened to her?"

"She was murdered" Zenith said in a low tone looking away.

"What?" Silver gets up backing away. Lori looks up staring at the two making sure she heard it right.

"Yeah, I don't know who did it. We've been looking for the person who did it for years now."

"I….I don't know what to say…." Sliver sits back down patting Zenith's shoulder.

"Eh, don't worry about it, squirt. We've been doing fine….so far…I mean you also seem to be doing fine with your lady. It's good to know you found someone nice"

"Yeah...thanks"

Lori was still listening to the conversation thinking about the two brothers. "My brother once thought that Chrome killed our mother" Lori turns around and sees Mercury sitting down next to her. "Onyx was also hired to bring down Chrome. Chrome is such a kind person, despite the fact that he's a thief."

"Why is he willing to accept those who are trying to kill him?" Lori asked while looking at Mercury. "What is with him?"

Mercury looks away from Lori while getting up and looking around. "You know…Chrome lost his mom too when he was younger. I guess that's why we both have a lot in common. I don't know what it is, but it's lie those two captains can actually see the sadness and pain in others. Then when they don't see any of them with evil intentions, they do what they can to try and comfort them, even if they are total strangers."

Lori thinks about what she was just told. She then thinks of the way Chrome treated her when she first encountered him. "You think….*sign* maybe…..he would want me to….to stay" Lori looks up and sees Richter staring at her. "WHAAAA!" Lori falls on her back looking at Richter.

"Oh, hey, boss" Mercury greeted as Richter sits with his legs crossed on the table.

"You know, kid" Richter started to speak as Mercury helps her up. "You seem like a nice girl…..one who may want to make something of herself. What do you want to be? A flower girl for a nursery? A fashion designer? Or maybe a librarian?"

Lori tilts her eyebrow at Richter's odd question. "What?"

"You're right…too girly. Ohhh! I know! A maid!"

"Now you're talking Richter!" Zenith walks up with Silver who turns his blade back to a sash. "She would look so cute as a French maid" Mercury comes up and slaps him. "OW!"

"You pervert!" both of them start to bicker at each other.

Sliver walks up to Richter and Lori. "Why would you say maid?"

"Maybe that was kind of off" Richter rubs his head while getting out some candy and eating it.

Sliver turns to Lori who was still shackled. "Can't you free her?"

"Alice has the only key, and she hasn't come out yet since….anyway I guess my brother isn't the only one taking random assassins on their team"

"What do you mean?" Both Lori and Silver asked

"No matter what happens the Iblis trigger must be destroyed!" Sliver jumps back at who Richter just mimicked.

Silver said those very words to Sonic long ago when he thought he was a threat. How…how did you know that?"

"Sonic told me! He told me how you tried to kill him, but it turns out you were tricked by a dark blob with no mouth or nose that looked like a grey Shadow the hedgehog! Boy! And I thought Knuckles was the gullible one!"

"t-That's not funny!" Silver shouted

"Actually, it kind of is." Lori said

"Says you! You were tricked too!"

"I WAS…..upset….I lost my uncle!"

"My future was a living hell, literally! So many lives destroyed and lost! I saw countless lives destroyed. You only saw one!"

"Well I…I…." Lori didn't have anything else to say after that. She knew that she couldn't top what silver said.

"I think we all can learn a lesson here." Richter said walking up. "Though we all have been torn apart by death or war, we can be sure that each of us has a reason to fight for, though you guys are naïve, clueless, and a bit oblivious"

"You're the one to talk!" They both said in unison.

"BUT! You two both have hearts of gold. I can tell. And I'm happy to be in the presence of two noble fighters. Both of them look at Richter for a minute. He then turns around and turns back at them with two long glasses filled with ice cream. "Parfait? You look thirsty"

"Uhhh thanks…." Silver takes his and walks away. "I'm going to go check on Blaze"

"What's his problem?" Richter looks at Lori who shrugs. He then sets it down on the table. He knows Lori can't eat it so he brings out a straw and puts it in the drink. "Hang tight, Chrome will be here to un-cuff you once he gets the key."

Lori sits down and looks at the treat Richter gave her. "He's so random…..is this what Chrome has to put up with…"

_**Newest member**_

"Zeke…..Zeke…Ezekiel…..Zeke…."

Tawny was in her room with Zeke who was lying on her bed. Zeke wanted to prove to everyone that he was strong enough to fight and was quite good, until he was killed by one of the Marcoats. Tawny had feelings for Zeke, strong feelings for him, so strong, that she wanted him to be with her. So to save his life she bit Zeke and turned him into a Cramoisi. Tawny was looking over him waiting for him to wake up. He slowly opened his now Red-violet eyes, and looked around.

"T-Tawny?" Zeke shudders while waking up looking around. "Where are we?"

Tawny giggles while smiling at Zeke. "My room" She gets closer to Zeke.

Zeke had no idea what was going on but when he sees Tawny's face he was in a compete trance. He couldn't hold his feelings back any longer. They both kiss each other, passionately. When the broke their kiss, Zeke stares into her shining Red violet eye feeling relaxed and happy.

"Wow!" he said "That was most intoxicating."

Tawny walks over to the table and shows Zeke a new set of clothes. "Put these on." Zeke looks at the clothes that he was wearing not noticing the new Vampire features. He takes the clothes and slowly takes of his old ones. "Oh! Sorry!" Tawny turns around waiting for Zeke to change.

"Ok, I'm done" Tawny turns around and sees Zeke wearing a green shirt and brown pants with a few extra, accessories to the clothes he was wearing. "How do I look?"

"Dashing! Now come on! Let's go tell the others that you're finally awake!" Tawny holds out her hand in front of Zeke.

When Zeke gets up he feels a sudden rush of energy, like never before, like he could take on a mad grizzly bear. Both of them walk out of the room and head for the mess hall.

_**Changes and a New body**_

Chrome gets a bottle of wine from his stash of drink. Like Richter has a stash of sweets Chrome had his own secret stash. He opens the bottle and poured some red wine in some glasses and gave it to the adults in the room, even to the Cramoisi.

"Today, is a great day my friends" Chrome started holding his cup. "We have conquered another Criminal Lord and saved this town from danger, to the Cramoisi and Dusk Raiders, may our companionship lead us to victory over our enemies."

"Hear! Hear!" everyone starts drinking their cups.

"Of course there's still the Dark summon circle in this town we have to deal with" Sonic finishes his drink and puts it down.

"Well then let's go and care of that now!" said Richter.

"It's not that easy." Said Chip on Sonic's Shoulder. "We can only destroy it at night when it's at its peak of power"

"What! Why?" Richter asked throwing his glass against the wall.

Chrome gets up and walks up to Richter's face. "Richter, that was a collector's wine glass!"

"Oops"

"Because that's when the guardian of the seal is awaken. We will have to defeat the guardian in order for the seal to become venerable. "Chip explained

"Just like that Cerberus, remember?" Sonic asked Richter while walking up.

"Oh trust me I remembered every last BIT of that thing!" Richter sticks out his tongue in disgust (Recap: He was eaten)

"You mean when you were eaten?" Sonic reminds him

That caught everyone's attention, Chrome nearly choked on his wine laughing 'Are you serious?" he said laughing and coughing.

"I told you not to tell ANYONE!_" _Richter said

"Oops!" Sonic just stands their laughing.

"Ooo you're a dead man!" Richter growled putting his fist together.

"Yes, Yes I am. Thank you!" Sonic bows

Everyone was laughing hard. Then Richter was standing over then in a body of fire. "Next person who laughs will be smoldered in hot gravy! " He said deeply. Everyone had a sweat drop and closed their mouths.

When, Tawny and Zeke come in to the room everyone turns and looks at Zeke and what he became. Cosmo and Cream came up and gave him hug. Zeke did not know what's going on, but he patted them on the head. Richter comes up and looks at him with curious eyes. Zeke was a little nervous; Richter's normally not this close to anyone. He then touched his chest and feels no heartbeat. "I do not feel any ticking…"

'You step away from my man you FAG, Homochidna, Fairy man!" Tawny pushes Richter down.

"Who are you calling "fag" you snappy, little, hotheaded, she witch, Harpy?" Richter shouted getting back up

"What did you say…punk?" Tawny growls at Richter as he growled back.

"Big…meaty…claws!" Richter shouts back

Ryan and Dwayne look from a distance as Tawny and Richter continued to argue and calling them long names. "Does this happen a lot?"

"More than you can count" Dwayne said dinking his wine.

"Glad to see things haven't changed" Ryan unzips his collar just slightly to drink his wine. Ryan always keeps his Scarf closed at all times, and only opens it when needed, but everyone can still hear and understand him clearly.

"You've little chatterbox hotheaded demon!" Richter insulted up to Tawny's face.

"Fagot, sugar craving little imp!" Tawny said up to his face.

"Numb…Numb….skull, hag!" Everyone was looking at the two insult one another, looking at the person who was insulting the other.

"Flea bitten fairy!"

"Blonde headed Demon!"

"Tight haired ninny!"

"Blonde loch-ness she devil!"

"Sugar-holic orange mongrel!"

"Flat chested woman!"

Tawny then gasped "Oh you are so-ho-ho asking for it!"

"Asking? I'm begging! Who's going to give it to me?" Richter smiles devilishly

"Me! With one hand tied behind my back, and the other one running through your chest!"

"GRRRRRRRRRRR!" the two of them growl as lighting came out from their eyes and jolting at one another

"Want some chocolate?" asked Chip

Richter sees the chocolate and could not say no. He takes the bar and eats some of it while still looking at Tawny.

Zeke comes up to the both of them trying to reason with them. "Wait! Richter! Tawny please Stop!" They both look at Zeke who was nervous. "If…If you don't stop…I'll…I'll get very mad."

"Wow….very intimidating…." Zenith said sarcastically

Richter looks at Zeke's pleading eyes. He then smiles and turns around. "I guess I can let it slide. Especially what she had to do for you, Zeke" he said biting the chocolate. "Thank you, Chip for the Chocolate. It helps me calm down.

Zeke tilts his head in confusion. "I'm sorry, but what are you talking about?" Zeke walks up to the chocolate covered face echidna.

"You mean you don't Know?" Richter wipes the chocolate from his mouth while asking.

"Perhaps this will explain everything" Chrome walks over and makes a large shard of ice. He then puts it in front of Zeke making look like a life-sized mirror.

Zeke looks at himself in the mirror and was shocked to see what he was looking at; his eyes his skin, were different. He looks at his hands were now claws, and his new wings, and his pearly white fangs. He touches the mirror to make sure it was him. "I'm….. I'm….. I'm?"

'Dead? Sprouting wings? A conzigbar?" Richter still gets the name wrong

"Richter…." Chrome slaps his face and sighs.

"I'm a Cramoisi! Tawny! I'm a Cramoisi now like you! Isn't that great?"

Tawny's cheeks were red. "Duh! Of course it's great!"

"Welcome little brother!" Sonic comes up and shakes Zeke's hands. "Congrats, you now have a reason to fight" Sonic gives Zeke the same sword Chrome gave him earlier. (see last chapter)

Zeke takes the sword out of the sheath and swishes it around, away from the others. He then puts it back and wraps it around his waist. "Thank you so much! I won't let you down!"

Amy walks over with a cup of blood and gives it to Zeke. "Freshly squeezed" Zeke looks at it for a minute, and took a sip after tasting it he drinks the rest quick.

"That was so good. What was it?"

"Blood" Amy smiles while taking it back

"No really" Everyone just laughs at Zeke then Zeke later joins in. "Wonder what Ty will say after he sees me?" Richter and Sonic look at each other and look down. Zeke sees there expression while stepping back. "Where…..where's Ty? He's ok….right…?"

Richter looks up and takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry" he said in the most sincere tone he's ever done so far. "Ty is…dead"

"No….." Zeke gets down on his knees with his head held down.

"But that's ok right, Richter? We can turn him into a vampire just like I did Zeke, right?" asked Tawny

"Sorry, won't work" Richter turns away from Tawny

"And what makes you think that?"

"It's not what I think, it's what I know, blondy"

"You know nothing of the powers of Radiant Darkness!" Tawny picks Richter up by his forehead.

"And you, my arrogant little princess, don't know about what Alice is capable of. Richter says back.

"What are you talking about? What about Alice?" Tawny puts Richter down.

"Perhaps, Tan-Tan, Alice should explain herself" Everyone looks to the right and sees Alice walk into the room pulling a stretcher. On the Stretcher was Ty lying down with his eyes closed, not moving a muscle. Everyone looks in horror at Ty's frozen body; Zeke was the one most horrified; His best and only friend was lying dead right in front of him. Alice lets go of the stretcher and looks at everyone.

"TY! No…. Ty….." Zeke walks up to Ty laying his head on his cold body. Lori looks from a distance looking at the cadaver.

"What did you mean "Explain" Alice?" Sonic walks up to her asking.

Alice smiles while looking at everyone. "When you fix a problem you can easily make it so it doesn't happen again. Once you aim for that goal, you can turn it into a whole new thing.

"What are you talking about, Alice" Tawny scratches her head.

Zeke and the others hear grunting coming from somewhere. They look and that it was Ty trying to get up. Zeke steps back in bewilderment as he sees his dead friend rise up from the stretcher and turns his body to the edge. He then opens his eyes; the pupils were gone and they were glowing cobalt blue. He looks around and sees everyone with surprised looks.

"Uuuuuuhhhnnnn…. Why is everything blue?" Ty looks around rubbing his head and hearing some strange beeping

"TY! OH thank goodness!" Zeke hugs his brother tightly, but feels that his body was still cold as ice.

"GAH! OK, OK, get off you're hurting me, and why are you so cold?"

"Why are _you_ so cold?" Zeke asked back

"How the he-" Ty looks to the side of the stretcher and sees a metallic tail laying on it not moving. He looks at Alice, and sees her tail was not stretched out.

"The blue vision is only temporary" Alice stands up and feels around Ty's head. "Looks like you're functioning well.

"Wait….if her tail is behind her then whose tail is…" Ty grabs and tugs the tail and feels a small pain in his rear. He rubs all the way down his own back and feels something cold and hard. Ty couldn't believe it; the tail was actually attached to him, a tail was growing from his rear. "W-What…" Ty learns that the tail was coming from him.

Alice giggles while getting on the stretcher along with Ty "Ty-Ty's brain has been worked on and has transformed his body into something new"

"Alice, will you stop talking in riddles and just tell us what the heck you did?" asked Tawny while taping her foot.

"To put it so everyone can understand" started Richter. "Alice…. robotcized Ty."

"Roboticzed?" Zeke looks at Richter with a curious face.

Richter gets a pair of glasses and a pipe. (Smoking pipe) "You see my dear Rogues and Cramzily, When Alice kissed Ty, she…."

"Alice…..kissed me?" Ty looks at Alice who was smiling and blushing. He then drops his arms as they turn back to normal.

Richter blows into the pipe as little bubbles came out. "As I was saying, When She kissed you, she unleashed these little tiny nannies in your body" Richter said in a high pitched voice. "There by going into your system and turning into a cybernetic human just like her. In a nutshell Ty, your entire body is now cybernetic, and your heart and brain are now computerized. This was a drastic thing to do, but it was the only way to save your life" Richter then takes off the glasses and pipe

"Alice…saved me?" Ty looks at Alice who jumps off the stretcher and on the floor.

There was silence in the room. Alice was on her hands and knees looking down for a minute.

Ty takes a deep breath and walks over to Zeke. Zeke takes a deep breath while looking at Ty.

"Ty"

"Zeke"

"I have something to say" They both were talking at the same time. "You first. No you! I said you! Fine! I'm in love! What?"

Ty looks at Zeke and saw his new features. "Zeke….you're a Cramoisi Vampire but how?"

"Ty, I…Love Tawny. I loved her since the day we met, and I wanted to be with her. I wanted to tell you before I became one but then I was killed before I had the chance." Ty looks a Zeke for a minute with serious eyes. Ty felt around his body he felt that it was colder. It was like he was touching a cold metal pole. "I hope this doesn't change anything and that we are still friends"

"Jeez Zeke" Ty shakes his head while smiling. "You really are clueless. Is that what's been holding you back? I know that I'm a big jerk sometimes"

"Sometimes?" Tawny and a few others ask out loud.

"Ok, Ok shut up! But you and me are like brothers. If you wanted to be a Cramoisi, I wouldn't mind. Sure you'd be one of these bloodsucking freaks, but you'd still be my brother. My dimwitted, softie, pacifist brother."

"Oh..Ty…" Zeke puts his hands on his chest with his eyes leaking a little bit. "Thank you so…"

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah quit crying. You're also a baby."

Zeke smiles at Ty and then looks back at Tawny. "I meant what I said. I want to become stronger and fight for what is right, and for all those who were killed by the mafia. So I want to train as hard as I can to become a strong fighter just like you"

Tawny sighs while walking up to Zeke. She then punches him in the shoulder. "Look, enough with this knight in shining armor crap. I told you, you don't need to prove anything to me. Plus you don't need to broadcast your pledge to me. It was quite clear what you wanted when you wouldn't listen to me or Chrome back during that fight. Face it Zeke, you've proved yourself to be a hardheaded fighter.

"Heh..heh…" Zeke rubs the back of his head. "Guess you're right"

Ty turns over to Alice and walks over to her. Alice looks back at him not saying a word. He lets out a sigh and speaks. "You know DonZor was right, you are a demon. A demon from hell. I've I've never seen anything like it! You were awesome! All those different features and weapons, you're more than a mad scientist, you're a kick-ass robot…..a….very…hot robot"

"You liked Alice…all along?" Zeke asked

"Surprised?" Ty turns to Zeke

"Not entirely, your actions have been telling me something was different about you"

"it's true. Ever since I met Alice I thought she was a freak, and I still do. Now she turned me into a freak. So, I guess this means we will both be freaks together."

"He's not making this sound any better" Tawny said under her breath

"Oh Ty-Ty…."Alice's eyes were sparkling.

Ty keels down on all fours like Alice. "Ty wants to be with Al-Al." Ty smiles while acting like Alice. He then crawls over and kisses her. Alice then closes her eyes and hugs his head, while he was still kissing her. After they broke they look at each other, smiling. "I love you Alice"

Alice's face was all red. "Alice loves Ty-Ty too!"

"My little girl has a boyfriend!" Richter walks up to Alice and gives her a hug.

"Alice is so happy, Daddy!" Alice kisses Richter on the forehead.

"Aww…. I'm happy too Pumpkin"

"So does this mean you're my Father-in-law? Can I call you dad too?" asked Ty

"Don't push your luck, boy" Richter glairs at Ty. Ty steps back and laughs nervously looking at Richter. But Richter smiles and grabs Ty hugging him too. "Oh Heck! Come here you! But you could still just call me Richter."

"EWWW! You are still a homochinda!" Tawny looks away while sticking out her tongue"

"Why you little…!" The two of them give each other a death stare.

"WELL, this has been a great thin, hasn't it? Zeke was trying to change the subject. "What are we going to do next?"

"It's almost sundown, let's go ahead and-"Chrome was cut off

"CAPTAIN!" Everyone sees one of the villagers with Rin-Rin

"What is it?" Richter asked putting down Ty and Alice.

"You have to help us!" The villager said "Our village is being attacked!"

"WHAT?" without hesitation, Ryan runs out of the room leaving the ship.

"Whose attacking the village?" Both Sonic and Richter asked

"There's a white shrew in front of the town demanding to see the Cramoisi! He came with an army of hooded men and some blue plated robots! " The villager explained

"Klaus!" Sonic puts his fist together.

"How did he find us?" Amy asked

"Doesn't matter" Shadow gets up and starts walking out. "We're going pay him a visit"

"Alright, I want all raiders to get to the town ten minutes ago!" Chrome commanded "Young raiders stay behind!"

"Aye-Aye!" said the crew mates

"Dwayne, we need to get everyone out of here a quickly as possible. Can you go take care of the dark ring?" Richter asked

'Tch, you don't have to tell me twice" Dwayne gets up and leaves.

"Blade, go with him" Richter ordered as Blade gets up and nods.

"I'll go" Knuckles gets up blocking Blade. "I'm bored"

"You sure, Knuckles?" Sonic asked but Knuckles was already leaving.

"Just be sure to get our brothers and sisters to safety, and I'll meet up with you later"

"Alright, Rogues! Let's move!"

'Right!" the raiders run out of the ship.

_**Old Enemies**_

Many of the Cramoisi and Rogues ran into the town. They saw the town practically in shambles and the stone walls broken down. There were blue agents everywhere, patrolling the town looking for the Cramoisi. Sonic came running in first looking at all the villagers being rallied up and brought outside. Sonic could see Ryan fighting Klaus. A powerful dark wave blows right at Ryan; Ryan tries to avoid it but jumping in the air, but the blast was too big. It hits him in the air and he gets blown into a large building. "UGGHHH!" He then falls on the ground.

Klaus walks up to Ryan with his swords, as he was grunting trying to get back up with his clothes tattered and ripped up. "FOOL! I have mastered talents you could never master in a THOUSAND YEARS! You're talents are feeble, and weak!"

"I'm…stronger…than you think…." Ryan struggles to get up but couldn't.

Klaus lifts his sword and was about to finish him, but then his sword is instantly stop by another. It was Sonic holding his sword against Klaus, who then pushes him out of the way Sonic.

"YOU!" Klaus growls looking at Sonic.

Sonic smiles while spinning his sword."(Heh-heh) Long time no see Klausy!" Sonic turns back at Ryan who was being helped by the townspeople. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank yo,u my friend" Ryan slowly walks up to him. "It's just a scratch."

"Dude, you're bruised all over!"

"I don't care. I will protect my people…even if it means dying" Ryan points his sword at Klaus.

"Sonic the Hedgehog! I see Darcy has tainted you even deeper in this pointless Radiant Dark!" Klaus jumps back with his swords pointed at him

"Man, has anyone told you that you have a bad temper? You're way different compared to your brother. You make Shadow look like a tranquil meditating guru."

"I heard that, hedgehog" Shadow then came in with his Black Sword.

"Shadow! I would have expected better from you! You're just as hard headed as your sister!"

"So it WAS you who awakened her!" said Shadow "Where is she now!"

""I don't know, nor do I care. I thought she would listen to me, but I didn't know that Professor Gerald made such WORTHLESS experiments! "

"Don't you dare talk about the professor!"

Heh-heh-heh well now, I guess I don't have to kill everyone after all. I'll just destroy the town completely! Agents! Demolish this dump to rubble! Suddenly Klaus feels the ground shaking under him. "What's going on?"

"Shoot from the earth; Rising stalagmite!"

Ten large spiky rocks come shooting from the ground, throwing a few of Agents up to the sky. Then a gang of the Cramoisi come and kill every last one, darning them dry, or dropping them dead.

"WHAT! WHERE DID THAT COME FROM! "Shouted Klaus

Then all of a sudden the ground shakes again. Before Klaus knew it, something came out of the ground and punches him right in the chin. "HIIIIIIIIGH GEE GEE!" Klaus was thrown on the ground; he then looks up and saw who punched him it was Richter, smiling. "Hello!"

"How dare you attack me fool?" Klaus points his sword at Richter

Richter mocks Klaus, acting like a child. "Man! Blue boy is right! You have a worst temper than Chrome, Shadow and Dwayne put together!" Klaus growls in anger. "Whoo man! And nice job sending us those three loser marcoats, that really put us in our place" Klaus was getting even angrier.

"What is he doing?" Sonic asked

"Being Richter" Shadow answered

"And what's with the sneer? You some stepmother or something? Oh no ,no wait…that's just how you always look" Richter starts laughing

"You…impudent…little….." Klaus was mad beyond reason. He charges at Richter with both his swords. Richter just stares at him and jumps back. Klaus keeps swinging his sword at Richter, but Richter continues to jump back making faces at Klaus for every time he missed. Klaus was getting even more furious; he swings his sword one more time but it was blocked by another blade. It was Chrome holding his sword blocking Klaus' attack.

"OOOO So close!" Teased Richter

"Can you battle one foe without being a child?" Chrome asked still blocking the attack.

"I would but standards won't let me"

Klaus jumps back and looks at the two Echidnas. "So, you're the two rebel criminal lords'"

"I'm Richter. This is Chrome. And you're the bastard you killed my little brother!" Richter punches his fist together.

"I do not kill anyone who isn't associated with the Crimson claw"

"He wasn't, until one of your cronies killed him! Yes, he was brought back, but that doesn't change the fact that they killed him in cold blood!"

"Humph! Ludicrous"

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"My men only kill those of the Crimson claw"

"THAT"S A LIE!" All four of them turn around and see Jayden walk up to him with an ax in his hands."O-One of your men killed my parents, right in front of me?"

"What proof do you have that one of my subordinates would commit such a deed?" Klaus asked while walking closer.

"Proof? Proof? It's all over my face!" Jayden points at the diagonal scar on his face.

"You're wasting my time. I don't have time to look at your childish scrapes"

"Don't screw with me!" Jayden runs at Klaus with his ax in hand. Klaus just stands there holding his sword; suddenly Jayden was instantly stopped by another blade. Jayden looks up and sees another agent who was much larger than the others holding a large buster sword.

The man smiles at Jayden looking at him and grabs him by the neck. Jayden looks at the man's face. Jayden then growls as he looks directly at his eyes. He chuckles darkly as Jayden comes to realize who he was. "We meet again….my little street rat"

""**G-ggeneral…Keon**!" The man throws Jayden on the ground next to Sonic and the others. Jayden gets up and growls in furry trying to run at the man again but was blocked by Sonic and Shadow. "Let me go NOW!"

"Jayden what is your problem dude?" Sonic asked

"HE DID IT!" Jayden screamed while shedding tears. "HE KILLED MY PARENTS!"

"What?" Both Klaus and Sonic said at the same time.

"So you do remember who I am" Keon laughs at Jayden who was still trying to get to him. "My, you've grown since the last time I saw you"

"Let...me...GO!" Jayden bellowed at the two who were holding him back.

"How are you still alive?" Jayden stops growling and turns to Richter who gives Keon a dark glare he then looks at Jayden. "It all makes sense. You're the boy of that couple this man killed. I should have known. Your dark skin, that brown hair and when you wear those glasses you look just like the man." He said to himself.

Jayden stops growling and looks at Richter. "How…how do you know what my parents look like?"

"Back for more, eh?" Keon walks up to Richter with his big sword. "I promise you, I won't fail like last time"

"I don't care who you are! You had no right to kill this boy's folks! I'll never forgive you!"

"and you had no business with the boy. And he made a grand mistake joining the Cramoisi…."

"Eee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee" Everyone could hear an eerie laugh coming from behind Klaus. He appears with that **large grin** across his face. "Just like that foolish rabbit who threw his body to protect them Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee"

"Wait….that laugh…..i know it from somewhere" Amy gets out her hammer and growls at him. "That laugh is burned in my brain!"

"Prandor…." Blaze gets out her lance and points it at the grinning man. "How can that be? Mother burned you to ashes!"

"I kill one little boy and suddenly all hell breaks loose. Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee!"

"Foolish rabbit? little boy…..YOU! You killed Rocky! Richter growled

"What are they babbling about?" Klaus asked behind the two. "Did you two kill innocent lives?"

"A minor setback, Master" Prandor said. "You see, that little bunny…asked to be killed…before he could become one of those bloodsucking freaks. He was…happy to die"

"The two parents I killed were already invoked with the cramoisi's toxen" Keon explained. "I told the boy he had to run, but before he could, he was scratched by the mother. The mother was already a full Cramoisi before I killed her and the father was just starting the changes."

"You damn liars!" Jayden shouted while still shedding tears.

"You killed them right in front of him, and _you _were the one who cut his face and sent him through that trap door!" Richter spins his hammer while aiming it at Keon.

"Prandor is also lying!" Amy shouted. "You tried to kill Cream, but ended up killing Rocky instead!"

"And laughed like a mad man!" Blaze added "Not to mention that other Marcoat killed Zeke! Face it! All you Cobalt shroud members are nothing but cold blooded killers!"

"I've heard enough!" Klaus draws his sword and points it at them. "I won't let you talk that way about my subordinates!" He looks at Sonic and Shadow "I will put an end to the knights of Dark radiance and wipe you Cramoisi from the face of the earth!"

_**(((((Boss Fight: Klaus the Shrew))))**_

_**Note: The battle will be fought by two different characters in Orange Dawn. In this one Klaus will be fought by Sonic and Shadow in a nutshell: Same battle, different characters**_

**Klaus: The Radiant Darkness shall fall!**

"I've been waiting too long time for this!" Sonic draws his sword and shield.

Sonic runs at Klaus with full speed and attacks him with his sword. They were both exchanging blows toward each other. Sonic has some skill with a sword, but Klaus was using two swords, so he will not be easy to bring down. Sonic jumps back and swings his sword at Klaus's Right blade; Klaus nearly loses his grip on one of this swords, leavening an opening. When Sonic tries to impale him, Klaus jumps back and lunges his sword at Sonic's chest, but Sonic jumps back dogging the blow. Klaus' sword starts to emit dark energy and he strikes Sonic with a pulse of dark energy by swinging his sword at Sonic's, blowing him away. Klaus jumps at Sonic and swings his sword downward at the ground hitting the pavement hard. Sonic looks up at Klaus who was going to deliver the final blow, but Shadow comes and blocks his attack with his bladegun, throwing Klaus back and shooting him. Klaus blocks the bullet with his sword and jumps at Shadow creating a ball of energy from his hand and throwing it at Shadow. Shadow tries to block it but gets blown away by the attack and knocks into Sonic, knocking them both down. They slowly get up looking at Klaus with another dark energy ball. Klaus smiles at his victory looking at the two on the ground. "Is that all you got, vermin?" Sonic ducks down at Klaus and swings his feet under him knocking Klaus down and kicks him to the wall. Klaus quickly gets up and runs at Sonic, full throttle as his swords catch on fire. Both hedgehogs get out their swords and run at Klaus, and all four of them clash against each other. The three of them stare at each other with cold eyes. Sonic and Shadow then look at each other, and nod while using their free hands and point them at Klaus. Sonic unleashes a blast of Light while Shadow shoots a blast of darkness right at Klaus, knocking him in the sky. As Klaus was in the air Sonic and Shadow fly up to the sky and slash Klaus with multiple blows. Klaus was too dazed by their earlier attack, but he then comes to his senses and stirs up a dark tornado blowing Sonic and Shadow away. Both hedgehogs fall on the ground on their feet and look at Klaus as he floats down. "How unexpected, Cramoisi. That you would side with side with criminals, agents of sin and greed."

"Heh, you talk like you know everything Klaus" Sonic gets up and dashes at Klaus swinging his sword, and attacks Klaus repeatedly , but Klaus blocks every attack.

Shadow jumps in and attacks Klaus from behind, and cuts his arm. Klaus however was still able to fight back and blocks Shadow's following attack. "The dusk raiders are nothing like those other criminals you seduced by treasure!"

Klaus continues fighting both hedgehogs with swords. "Anyone who thinks that is a cowardly fool!" said Klaus swinging his sword unleashing a blast of darkness blowing them away. Both then disappear; Klaus looks for them trying to find them. Suddenly he was kicked down to the ground by Shadow, Sonic then picks him up, throws him in the air and punches Klaus in the sky. "Lumen strike!" Sonic shoots out a blast of light at Klaus as Shadow jumps up swinging his sword at Klaus continuously cutting him in all over his body. He then grabs Klaus by his arms and his body glows a bright red.

"CRIMSON CHAOS BLAST!"

Multiple red explosions come from Shadow blowing up Klaus and pushing him down to the ground into a crater.

"Damnit!" Klaus struggles to get up but is unable to. "This cannot….be…"

_**(((Boss Fight: Boss Defeated))))**_

_**Sonic: Better luck next time Klausy!**_

_**Shadow: You're not worth anyone's time**_

The two of them walk over to Klaus who was in the crater. He was slowly getting up with his body bleeding like crazy. His right eye was closed to keep the blood from coming in * *Pant* *Pant* Well *Pant* Damn you! Damn you all!*pant* *Pant* *Pant*

"Do you ever calm down?" Sonic asked crossing his arms. "Why are you acting this way? All this is make me nostalgic for Dr. Eggman." Klaus growls while looking at the two hedgehogs. "What kind of Beef do you have with Cramoisi vampires anyway?"

"What difference does it make?" Klaus shouted "This all could have ended if you'd just forget the ones who were turned Cramoisi. Now you're dammed along with them!"

"Someone is dead set on their goal." Shadow looks at Sonic and then and Klaus. "And it's strange how someone like you lived as long as Darcy had been put to sleep"

"Yeah, that's right! You're not a Cramoisi, but how did you manage to live this long?" Sonic asked. "Mother did say you had a connection to us. What was it?"

"What's it to you? Know that you are my enemy and you must be taken down!"

"Klaus" Sonic walks up to Klaus slowly. "What did Darcy and Zerach do to you? Why are you so bent on killing them and the Cramoisi?"

Klaus slowly brings out a gold ring. "You'll learn soon enough! And the shroud will wipe out the rest of the scum!"

"You're not going to live to see the day the Cobalt Shroud Falls!" said Shadow holding up his sword.

Klaus lifts the ring into the air and it forms into a larger ring. Both Keon and Prandor jump down in front of Klaus. "I will leave everything to you two. I do not want any deaths other than the Cramoisi and those who _actually_ oppose you!"

"As you wish, master. Eee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!" Prandor giggled

"We will not fail you" Keon stated wielding his big weapon. Klaus steps through the ring disappearing out of sight.

"Klaus, wait!" Sonic reaches his hand out but Klaus was already gone.

"Don't bother, it's pointless to try and talk some sense to him" Shadow said.

"Boy, that Klaus was no joke!" Richter walks up to the two hedgehogs. "He nearly mopped the floor with ya'll!"

"You did quite an excellent job defending yourselves." Chrome complemented.

"My word…you people really are stubborn" Prandor said while giggling. "Perhaps now it's time for us to get serious…hee hee hee hee hee hee…"

"Wish I had a buck for every time I heard that.." Richter rolls his eyes. Jayden runs up with his ax looking at Keon dead in the eyes.

"You still want to fight me, little boy?" Keon giggled

Everyone gasped as Prandor's body shakes up and his clothes slowly rip up along with Keon's. Four more arms rip out of Prandor's robe as it rips off him completely and reveals to be a blue humanoid with pointy ears and white hair and his eyes turn from blue to red and sharp teeth. Six sharp blades appear in his hands in a blue flame. "EEEEEYAAAHHHH!" he lets out a terrible screech.

Keon's face grows longer and large while growing a large shell around it. with sharper teeth and gets multiple eyes and his body grows bigger as his body transforms into a large insect (centipede) that grows forty feet long five feet wide, and lands all over the village. He looks directly at Jayden with his multiple eyes and charges at him full speed pinning him against the wall. Jayden stares at Keon with his misconfigured face, multiple eyes and terrorizing grin. Jayden was now scared beyond reason looking at the multiple arms surrounding him with blades that bleed a blue liquid. **"Wonderful…."** He said in a hissing and sighing like voice. **"Your face, it's the very same face that I would see on those Cramoisi I killed long ago. The horror in their eyes is burned in my brain. Their screams of pain play over and over in my head. I loved every minute of it. And now I get to see it all over again! Do you still think you can kill me? Go on…let see some that tenacity you mustered up. ** Richter has seen enough. He looks at Jayden trembling in fear shedding tears while weeping. Keon then lifts his arms and aims for Jayden's heart. **"Let your screams and cries be heard as you burn in the fiery depths of GAAHHHH!" **

One of Keon's eyes was gashed out by a blade. Jayden sees Lori stabbing his one his eyes and then stab some of the others she and finally cuts off one of Keon's arms. He moves back screaming in pain freeing Jayden. "Come on, Jayden…get up!" Lori encouraged

"He…he…almost…killed me…." Jayden was weeping while covering his face.

"**You little bitch!"** Keon shouted swinging his arms.

"Rock collide hammer!" Richter comes from behind and swings a large orange hammer on Keon's back. He jumps down next to Lori and Jayden. Keon looks at Richter in rage. "I beat you before I could do it again." Richter looked away for a second. "Really? So Cliché!"

"**NEEEYAAAAAHHHH!"** Keon, rams at Richter with all his blades. Richter jumps out of the way and onto the roof nearest building. He sticks out his tongue and pulls down his lid at Keon as he growls in rage and swings his sharp arms at Richter, who jumps again avoiding another attack.

"Pyro Screwdiver!" Richter spins around in a fiery tornado and shoots himself at Keon's face. Richter then returns to normal and jumps back hopping around while punching in the air."Come on, Sucker! You're dead meat"

"**Insect!"** Keon grabs Richter and points his blade at him.

"You want a piece of me?" Richter asked

"**I want you chunks of meat!"** Keon lifts his sword at Richter's neck, but then feels his arm being bitten. **"GAH!" **He looks at one of his long arms and sees Quinn biting on it with his sharp teeth. **"YOU LITTLE GNAT! GAHHhH**!" He was then kicked in the face by Richter who wiggled himself free and falls to the ground.

"Not in this story, bub!" (those who read my other story; Crimson at Dusk would know what Richter is talking about) Quinn flies off Keon's arm and on Richter's head while crawling back in his hair and peaking out. "Had enough, tiny?" Keon slowly gets back at comes at Richter again who smiles at Keon. "Guess not!" Richter runs up to Keon and grabs his long arms, the ones without blades, and pulls them back while grunting and panting, slowly lifting Keon's entire body in the air. Richter's body was slowly being ascended by a rock blow him; he then jumps on the rock which plummets to the ground creating a large earthquake.

Keon then felt sections of his body lifting in the air. His four foot body was being lifted into the air by stray stalagmites all over the village. "Wha…what are you?"

"HIIIIIIIIGH GEEEE GEEE!" Richter throws Keon's massive body in the air, tossing him away from the village, while summoning his large hammer. "Time to make bug stew!" When he was about to go at the beast he was grabbed my Prandor who was hugging him with two arms trying to cut him with the other four. Sonic runs up to his aid and slashes Prandor's back, making him let go of Richter. Richter then tries to swing his hammer at Prandor, but Prandor kicks Richter back at jumps at him to attack him.

"Sonic" Shadow stops Sonic in his tracks. "We have to stop Keon from coming back to the village"

"But what about Prandor?"

"Let the others handle him. We can't let that thing enter the village in its condition" Shadow jumps in the sky and starts flying

"Shadow wait!"

"Sonic" Sonic turns to Amy who was fighting off the agents. "Leave everything to us…go with him!"

Sonic sees Amy pull of a spectacular move, where she slams her hammer down that launches rocks at ten agents knocking them in the sky. He then nods and follows Shadow.

_**Blue on the run.**_

Sonic was flying over a large ruined temple with a large lake in the middle. The temple was a large cluster of different damaged buildings and spires that had grass and moss growing from them out of age. "Wow…this looks a lot like home." He and Shadow fly down looking around. "Richter's got quite an arm….I can smell Keon is somewhere around…." There was a sudden loud boom. They both turn around and see Keon who wreck a whole building trying to find the two hedgehogs.

"**Ahh….you're here….I was going to find that orange shit of an echidna, but I would love to have a midnight snack before I rip him apart!" **

"I know Richter's a pain, but not even he deserved that comment" Shadow draws his gun and shield.

"Time to exterminate this pest!"

_**((((Mega Marcoat Boss fight: Keon)))))**_

**Keon: *growls while lifting his body and slamming it to the ground* I'll devour or bodies and grind your bones to dust!**

"I'd like to see you try!" Sonic unleashes his two Jema and summons his sword and shield. "Come on Shadow!" Sonic dashes off into the ruined city along with Shadow.

Keon follows them destroying things in his path**. "HA HA HA HA HA! I'm going to enjoy ripping you apart and eating your bodies like picked apples!"** Keon was diving his head at the two hedgehogs trying to actually eat them**. "Hedgehog, Oh hedgehog, how I love to see the pitter pater of your little feet!"** He starts swiging his blades at Sonic and Shadow, but both hedgehog jump on the walls and run faster**. "Hedgehog, sweet hedgehog…. OH HOW I'D LOVE TO CHEW YOUR LITTLE BLUE MEAT!" **

"That's a creepy, rhyme I'll never get out of my head. Now I really miss Dr. Eggman's pointless dialogue." Sonic continues to elude Keon. Keon continues to swing his sharp blades arms at the two hedgehogs, while running and destroying everything in his path. His body was covering most of the temple's paths, making was almost impossible for them to escape. Fortunately, escape wasn't on their mind. They were going to end Keon here and now. Sonic turns around and faces Keon, and jumps on the wall and bounces at Keon's face cutting one of his fangs off. He then spins in the air and points his sword downward and falls down piercing the top of his head. The head starts gushing out blue blood as Sonic pulls his sword out and jumps back down. Keon roars in pain and goes after Sonic again. In response Sonic smiles and dashes off running away from him again. Keon looks around for Sonic while destroying more buildings around him.

"**I smell you hedgehog!"** He lifts his body on buildings knocking them down like a raging bull. He looks around the ruined temple looking for his prey, any sign to where the two hedgehogs were. Suddenly he feels something cutting a part of his body. He could not see it, but Shadow was all the way at the tail, spin dashing around, cutting off parts his body, slicing it piece by piece. Keon turns his large body around trying to get to his tail ramming through more buildings, but when he got there all he saw was a fraction of his body cut off his body. **"Maggot! Show yourself!"** Before knew it, both hedgehogs were at Keon's face and the both stab him in the face**. "RRRAAHHHHHHHHHH!"** Keon falls back on the ground. Sonic and Shadow come at him again but the two of them were grabbed by Keon's claws and thrown a far distance almost in the nearby lake. Sonic looks at the water that was nearly 5 inches away way from him, and quickly gets up looking at Shadow who was already up. They both turn around and see Keon bashing through the buildings of the temple and charge at them with great speed, but he misses and jams his head near the lake, as both hedgehogs jump out of the way. Sonic and Shadow jump on Keon's body and spin dash all around his body like a couple of buzz saws cutting vital parts of his bug like body. Many parts start to gash out more blue blood, Keon's body slowy starts to restore itself, but now his body was now fifteen feet and not forty. Shadow had cut off about ten feet earlier, and just now both hedgehogs cut off another fifteen feet. With his shorter body it was much easier for Keon to move around but his body was getting weaker and weaker. **"Echidnas…."** Keon was panting and groaning as he looks at the two. **"Hedgehogs…..humans….RRRAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH I CAN"T STAND THEM. I CAN"T STAND THEM AT ALL! " **He lifts his head shouting at the top of his lungs and swinging what was left of his body at the two. "**I"ll kill you all , then eat you all up! Destroy you! You will all die! I WILL DEVOUER YOU ALLL!" **

"Look at yourself!" Shadow continues to avoid Keon's attacks "Is that all you're focused on, pretty pathetic. You're nothing but a large blue bleeding mess and you're still deadest on acting pathetic"

"I actually feel kind of sorry for you" Sonic spins to a higher elevation looking at Keon try to climb up to him. "You call yourself a powerful general, but the way I see it, you've been reduced to a bloodthirsty monster. Keon continues to try and get to Sonic, ramming his head like a blind goat at the building trying to bring him down.

"Sonic! There's nothing we can do for this pathetic fool! Let's end this!"

"Fine." Sonic lifts his sword as it glows a bright light. "You have no remorse or regret for those who tried to hurt or kill my friends!" Sonic's body starts to glow bright; Shadow's body was emitting darkness and spins into a ball with his sword creating a black circular blade of darkness. Sonic spreads his wings and falls from the building with his wings spread out and sword sticking upward aimed down at Keon who was resting after going nuts.

Keon looks up at Sonic and tries to scoot back, but he instantly feels his body getting cut once more. Shadow had dashed through his body cutting it in half. It wasn't over yet; Sonic swings his sword at Keon's head creating a large crescent of light that cuts through the rest of Keon's body. **"NO!"** Keon thought as the last thing he sees is Sonic jumping down giving him a smirk. **"I CAN"T LOSE TO SUCH INFERIOR BEINGS! DAMNITALLL!** The rest of his body was now cut vertically, it splits in two and falls to the ground gushing out more blue blood than ever before. Shadow flies back to Sonic as Keon's blood was raining down on them. Sonic had his mouth open taking in every drop he could.

"That was awesome! Maybe we should consider going into the exterminator business" Sonic tries to pat Shadow's should but he steps back.

"Not on your afterlife hedgehog"

_**(((Mega Marcoat boss: Defeated)))**_

_**Sonic: Nice work, bro. That bug is toast!**_

_**Shadow: Humph!**_

_**Trust**_

Sonic looks at the corpse of the destroyed Marcoat and throws seeds at it that instantly turn to multiple blood cores. Shadow gets out a black urn that absorbs the cores inside. "These guys are like cockroaches." Sonic said looking down at the body as it turns to ash. "Shadow, do you have any idea what could-"

"No" Shadow closes the urn and dematerializes it. "I need to figure out what's making them come back. Termonos told me that Klaus was able to bring them back as many times as we defeat the Marcoats."

"Do you think mother might know?" Sonic asked

"She might be behind this. She was the one who "killed" Prandor after all"

"Back up dude, stop and think, Richter said that he killed Keon and he came back. So what makes you think she might be behind this?"

"I…I don't know"

"Admit it, you don't have the answer."

"Of course I do!"

"This is exactly how you behaved when you thought Cosmo was a spy. You still don't like Richter, and now you're blaming Madame Darcy for all this? Shadow, why don't you ever trust people for a change?"

"And why are you too quick to judge people? Many of us were almost killed this time many times in fact! Look what happened after we trusted Cosmo! And trusting a 3000 year old vampire has only opened up a new way for us to die if we even so much as look at the sun or touch a certain metal, and now you are really going to trust a pirate you know nothing about?"

"I…" Sonic looks down in thought could everything that he has been doing a big lie? Could Darcy be behind everything that has been going on? And could Richter really be a true pirate. He looks back from the time they met; all the time they spent, how much Richter cares for his ship mates, and the heart he has for his chao, a lonely hedgehog, and his adopted human daughter. He then thinks of Darcy; Darcy who also took good care of everyone finding their one true love including his own. He then thinks of the words the silver wolf, Nero told him. Images of everything that has happened for the past mouths were playing back in his head. He then turns back to Shadow. "You may be the ultimate life form, Shadow, but when it comes to family, or friendship you're the worst." Shadow just glares at Sonic after hearing him. "Who knows? Richter and Darcy could be teaming up to kill us all. Eggman could still be a alive and Darcy could have lied about the whole thing and actually work for him. I don't know. But for all I know, you could still want to kill me. Silver may want to end me too, or Blaze. And how can you trust Omega either? " Shadow then gasped at Sonic's comment, and did not know how to follow up. "If I behaved like you, there's no telling what would happen. That's how I deal my life, I go where ever the wind takes me, and what I feel in my gut, and right now it's telling me that neither Darcy, Richter, Chrome, Zerach, nor any of the numerous friends we've made are evil. And I know you're not evil either"

"and how do you know that?"

"Because they have something Eggman and Klaus don't have." Sonic jumps in the air and starts to fly. "A Heart for those they care or cared for. I know **Maria** thought the same thing for you. You may be a grump, but even she showed compassion for you." Sonic flies back in the direction of the village.

Shadow crosses his arms while taking a last look at Keon's ashes. He then jumps in the air and follows Sonic.

_**A friend in need**_

Amy was in the village looking for more agents. She then hears a loud scream coming from the same shop she and Rouge got the rings from. She runs over and sees the hooded Subterosi on the ground looking at two blue agents.

"Give us your money, all of it" said one of the agents.

"You..You are nothing but big jerks!" the Subterosi glares at them with it's glowing eyes. "I give you nothing!" one of the agents grabs him by the neck.

"Oh…you are soo…dead!" as the agent was about to impale the poor Subterosi with his sword Amy grabs the agent by the neck and slowly strangles him and brining him to the floor. The other agent tries to slash Amy, but Amy quickly gets up while holding her hammer and smashing his body down on the ground. The first agent slowly gets up and tires to run away, but is instantly stopped by a shining white boot.

Amy turns and sees Rouge kicking the agent down and wrapping his hands with a rope. "Don't worry I got this one"

"Nice job, big sis!" Amy gets up and throws a seed down on the agent's body; the seed forms into a blood core that Amy takes and starts eating it.

The Subterosi slowly gets up looking at Amy in bewilderment. "You….you saved me"

"You're very welcome." Amy said "You may be a swindling rat, but not even you deserved to be tortured by those freaks"

"Eee hee hee hee hee hee…" The Subterosi giggled while jumping on his table. "thank you…so much"

Amy then feels someone's presence. She closes her eyes and smiles, knowing who was coming back. She knew when and where her lover is, and is always happy to know that he's around. "I've got to go now…see ya later"

"Little girl" Amy turns back to the Subterosi whose expression looked like he was really happy. "What is your name?"

"Amy, Amy Rose" Amy said smiling.

"Amy, understand, the deed that you did for me today, or for what you do for my people, will not go unrewarded"

"Yeah…" Amy said rolling her eyes. "I'll see ya later" Amy turns around and grabs the agent

"What was that all about?" Rouge asked the pink hedgehog.

"Who knows? But something tells me this won't be the last we see of them"

"Great! So what do we do now?" Richter asked in front of Shadow and Sonic.

Sonic looks at Shadow who was looking at him. He then looks back at Richter about to speak when he was interrupted.

Shadow walks up crossing his arms. "We need to find Klaus and put an end to him once and for all." Sonic was shock to hear Shadow but then smiles knowing that he came to his senses.

"If we can find another Criminal lord they might give us an answer" said Chrome

"Question is, which one to hunt down? And which ones are closer to Klaus?" asked Richter

There was a long silence as the four of them were standing around in thought. Sonic then shatters the silence "Wait! If Klaus released Fear, maybe she can tell us where he is."

"What makes you think she will just tell us what he's up to? For all we know, she's trying to kill me!" Shadow reminded

"Yeah, but when she took you down back in Spagonia, why didn't she finish you off?" the blue hedgehog asked

"Sonic's Right, Nazo and Fear also saw Richter in Soleanna, and didn't attack him even when they had the chance. So I say we look for her and you two try to clear things up. She obviously wants to kill you for something Klaus probably said to her that wasn't true. "Chrome Deduced.

"But where are we going to find her? It's not like she going to appear right on our doorstep!" Richter Stated.

"I thought she back in Alpotos." Sonic Chuckled.

"We just have to let them find us." Chrome picks up an urn and sets it back in place. "Now, about find the next Criminal Lord…." Chrome started.

"SONIC!" shouted Amy from a distance. She was holding a Blue agent all tied up. All the others were with her.

"Hey you brought me dinner!" Sonic comes up and kisses Amy.

"Well, actually I think this guy may know something about any more Criminal lord activity." Amy throws the agent down on the ground.

"You're not getting anything from me!" the agent looks up at everyone.

"We will see about that my little blue prick!" Richter comes up and flicks him on his long shrew nose.

"Captain!" shouted Mercury walking up to them. "We just checked the townspeople. The elder is just fine, A little traumatized but no serious injuries or death. Also, the town wanted to thank you for you and everyone's efforts. The Elder has a very special gift of you Richter."

"Oooooo We can go see her after we deal with this guy. Send message to the Chaotix and tell them to meet us in the interrogation room."

"Aye-Aye!" said Mercury

_**The Second Gate**_

_**(Note this event takes place during the battles between Klaus and Keon)**_

Knuckles, Dwayne and Chip were walking through the old place looking at the moon in the sky. "So, how do we get to the Gaia gate?" Knuckles asked

"Over the great dragon wall road, but we have to cut through the temple to get to the Gaia gate. " Dwayne pointed to the wall.

"I Remember this place well!" said Chip "Me and sonic have been here before. Man this place had the best dumplings!"

"You sure it wasn't Richter who was with you at the time?" asked Knuckles

"Nope! It was Sonic! Let's get going! I want to have some more of those Dragon Tail Dumplings!"

Chip flies ahead, both Knuckles and Dwayne look at him fly off. "It's as if he and Richter were separated at birth." Knuckles walks ahead.

"If Richter was over one million years old" Dwayne follows after.

_**((((Jagged Valley Zone: The submerged Temple)))))**_

Dwayne changes into his werehog form and starts running on all fours on the passage ways along with Knuckles who was just running to keep up. Just when they start they run into a hoard of dark gaia spawn. They were little, but they still jump at the two to attack. Knuckles jumps in and grabs two and throws them at the others knocking them out. Dwayne does the same; he grabs two that were knocked out and spins one around while knocking out even more of them and throwing them all into the water.

"Hey! We could have eaten some of those…" Knuckles looks down at the water disappointed.

"Heh. Don't worry, You'll have another chance.

They ran and jump on the passage ways of the waterlogged city that had brick walls, brick passages, and small pagodas that were lit up. Walking into another pagoda, they see another hoard of spawn. These were much bigger and came charging at the two. Dwayne charges back at the beast slashing his claws in front of them cutting them up, and grabs one of them and continuously slams him on the floor on the other ones. Two more jump at him as he was still attacking. Knuckles flies up and grabs the two and throws them on the ground and punches them knocking them out. He then throws white seeds at the monsters that attach to the beast and drain them of their dark blood forming blood cores. Knuckles takes out a black urn and it sucks the cores inside. He turns around and sees Dwayne still fighting off more of the spawn. Knuckles runs to his aid and uses his stone breaker punch to take out five of them and throwing more seeds at them. Dwayne was able to get up and finish the last of them by grabbing two monsters and knocking them into the others. Knuckles holds out the Urn and it sucks in more of the blood cores that came from the monsters.

"That's a pretty interesting tool you have" Dwayne grabs one of the cores and smells it. He then bites into it like it was a crisp apple. He could taste the blood for the core like tasting the juice form an apple.

"It's like a real harvest, isn't it? All the blood supply from the monsters in one small orb. So tell me something, you were once were a criminal, right?" Knuckles finishes getting the cores and puts the urn away. Dwayne was the first to take point, followed by Knuckles.

"That's right." Dwayne started as they continued to get to the great wall. Beyond the wall was the mountain side. "Life was hard for me and I needed to survive in life. After losing my parents, no one would take me in. So I had to steal food in order to live. That is until I somehow was able to suck the blood of other, but even after that I still committed crimes. But I never committed any other crimes, other than stealing, maybe some gambling here and there."

"That's crazy. We're friends with a Criminal!" Chip comes out of Knuckles' dreads.

"Hey let's not forget that all the Dusk Raiders are criminals too. Hey…wait a minute….weren't you ahead of us?"

"I snuck into your hair while you were fighting. Your hair is much nicer than Roberts. (Richter's) "

"Ok…."

As they made their way to another pagoda, more Dark Spawn come up from the floor. Dwayne stretches out his arm and grabs a monster and swings his arm around at the others, killing them off. Knuckles gets out his urn and sucks some more cores into the urn. They both continue to run over to the great wall.

"So what about Ryan, how does he fit into your so called survival trope"

"He wanted to help his town so that's why he joined us. The underground has huge ties to the whole city. One screw up and the whole place will pay the price. Ryan didn't want to do it. But he did not want this village to end up like others."

"That's harsh. I feel sorry for him. What about Richter and Chrome? How did someone like those two become Criminal lords?"

"You guys ask too many questions. A nasty habit like that might get you killed. Best to keep your guard up and be smart, that's one of the ways you survive in this mafia" The two of them run out of the temple and approach the mountainside of the valley. They see a large waterfall at the end.

"So…the wall is just over this?" Knuckles asked Dwayne.

"Yeah." Dwayne runs ahead to the waterfall looking for a way up.

"So tell me about them" Knuckles said while following him. Dwayne jumps from rock to rock all the way up to the top.

"If you got to know, their parents were Criminal Lords, and they are the descendants of the ones who were the first elemental users, your people actually. I'm surprised you've never seen them; after all, you're practically cosines from what I can gather."

"I hardy left my island so I never saw them, and when I left the island I was always on the move"

"I understand. After all, when they first became accomplices of the mafia….they…weren't themselves." They finally reached the top, and could see the great wall just ahead.

"Wait what? Not themselves? What do you mean?""

Dwayne thinks back at what Richter asked of him a while back when the Cramoisi first came on broad.

_Flashback_

_Richter and Dwayne were walking on the outside of the ship. They were both catching up on each other's lives._

"_So, Richter is there something else you want to tell me? I know it's not just to catch up on our lives." Said Dwayne_

"_Man! Nothing gets past you does it? Actually there's a huge favor I want of you. I don't want Sonic and his friends to know about me and Chrome's past." Richter explanted_

"_Well the crew already told them about your parents."_

"_I know that. I'm talking about when we first became members of the Criminal Underground. If they found out about our past, things might get worse for everyone on broad this ship. I already told you what happened last time it happened. If it happens again, no one not even the vampires might survive. _

"_Why so worried? That **thing** was destroyed long ago. I don't think the same thing will happen._

_Richter then showed Dwayne the metal strap on his arm. "This inhibitor on my arm is the only thing keeping this **power** from getting out. Even with **it **destroyed, I don't want to take any chances. If my emotions run haywire….I never forgive myself. You MUST not tell them."_

"_Richter, you should know me better than that. Of course I won't tell them alright? But I'm telling you, you're getting worried over nothing"_

_End of flashback_

Dwayne looks back at Knuckles then looks ahead.

"We have to keep moving. Let's get going"

"Aww! I wanted hear what he had to say!" complained Chip.

They look up at the giant wall and climb up to reach the top. They could see a large cathedral, on the other side. The cathedral looked similar to the others; although the exterior matched that of what was surrounding it. The towers matched the pagodas that were in the old temple from before, the buildings bricks looked like it matched the ones on the wall.

"The Gaia Gate!" Chip said happily.

"Huh…it looks different from what Sonic described it. "Knuckles said jumping down walking to the gate.

"The gates don't all look the same" Chip explained "But I know the gates when I see them"

"Whatever…so long as we seal up the circle " Dwayne stated

As they both start to walk over to the cathedral they see someone laying in the large stone clearing. It was a yellow hedgehog with a blue tank top and white pants. Chip flies over to the hedgehog and looks around. "Hey, hey! Are you ok?"

"Is she breathing?" Dwayne coming up to her.

They all see the female hedgehog's eyes shoot open. She slowly stands up with a shadow covering her eyes. She then reaches out her hands and looks at the group with soulless eyes grinning. "Hee hee hee…."

"Something tells me she's not happy to see us" Knuckles said. The hedgehog yells while jumping at the two. They just barely dodge the attack, but the girl continues to swing her arms at them. "She must be the guardian you talked about, Chip"

"No, she can't be" Chip said trying t avoid the girls swings. "Guardians, are entities made from the circle. This girl is just another possessed victim. Anyone got a camera, or something with a flash?"

"Nope"

"You're out of luck!" Dwayne holds the girl back as she was mindlessly trying to get to him.

"Then we have to find the guardian so you can beat it and I can seal up the circle. It's the only way we can free her!"

"**YAAAAAHHHHH!"** The hedgehog gives them a scared reaction and runs away.

"Wait! Come back!" Chip shouted the then stares with his eyes wide open as if he can feel something coming.

"That was wired…" Knuckles turns to the center of the clearing and see a man with a black and white Mohawk, looking down. "What?" The man looks up at the two and suddenly his body turns purple and starts to grow. The man then turns into a large spider like creature with four arms and a spider like head, and had guns on its back.

"Huh? She was afraid of that?" Dwayne stands there cracking his knuckles.

That' thing is huge!" Said Knuckles stepping back and smiling. "I've fought bigger"

"That's the guardian of the Dark Ring!" Chip said. "You have to destroy it so I can seal the Dark Ring in the temple!"

"Alright let's do this!"

_**((((Dark Guardian fight; Dark Crawler)))))**_

The monster lets out a powerful roar looking down at the two, and quickly crawls over to them turning two of its arms into one blade and swinging down. Dwayne sees the arm and grabs it before it hits them. Knuckles then jumps up on the arm and runs all the way to its head and punches it dead in the face making the monster step back roaring in pain

Dwayne looks at the beast as his body gets covered in purple lighting. "Black lighting!" He runs over at the monster with his claw pointed at it and runs right through the beast chest bringing it down. As it was struggling to get up, Knuckles punches it in the face tossing it back and hitting the wall behind them.

"Yeah! That's it! show him who's boss!" Chip cheered

The monster's back starts to glow a dark glow. Then a black beam comes out of the gun-like tubes from his back, hitting Knuckles to the ground. Dwayne sees the beast come closer to them; he slamming his fist on the ground making the monster stumble. He then jumps at the head and punches it in the face. After shaking its head from the punch, the beast grabs Dwayne and throws him into the wall and shoots out a black ray from it's mouth hitting him dead on. Little that it would expect. Knuckles comes in and grabs the beast by the tusk and brings it down to the ground. He then activates his jema and jumps back as his body catches on fire. Around him were an assortment of rocks and dirt that swirl around him along with the fire. He takes a deep breath and jumps in the sky.

"Burning subterra; Meteor Screwdiver!" he shoots himself at the beast hitting it with a barrage of fire and earth slowly burning it's body. He then grabs it by the tusk and throws it over his head. The monster was about ten feet tall but he was still able to lift it up and throw it. Dwayne then gets out his jema gun and shoots the beast with a dark blast right at its heart killing it. After it falls down from the ground burning up, Dwayne runs up and bites it on the neck drinking some of its black blood, Knuckles does the same thing. . Chip stared in disgust at the two and looks the other way. After a few minutes the monster disappears in a cloud of dust.

"Are you guys done yet?" Chip complained trying his best not to look at the carnage.

"Relax shortly, we're through." Said Dwayne licking his lips

"Too bad Julie isn't here" said Knuckles "At least I still got the blood form the other monsters.

_**(((((Jagged Valley Zone; Stage cleared, boss defeated)))))**_

_**Dwayne; Not bad for an undead Echidna!**_

_**Knuckles: Heh –heh what else were you expecting!**_

_**After the battle…**_

Knuckles looks at the burn marks left over from the monster and sighs while lying on the ground. "Man! That was good! I can't remember the last time I had….

"YAHHHH!" the hedgehog girl comes at Knuckles with a large stick. **"You..you…youyouyouyouyoyyouyou!** **You killed comrade….now I kill kill kill you**!" she keeps swinging her large stick at Knuckles who was jumping out of the way. Dwayne comes over and grabs her by the arms. She starts snapping and biting at him while screaming.

"We should…take care of the gate now" Chip files into the cathedral, followed by Knuckles. Dwayne drags the girl into the building as she was stills screaming. The building had murals and statues of dragons with a large pagoda in the middle, in the center of it was the dark circle glowing brightly

"Wow the ruins back home are nothing like this!" said Knuckles looking around at the structure.

"**YAHHHH! KILL KILL KILL KILL! Master will kill you all**!" the hedgehog screamed

"GRRRR! You! Gaia! Destroy the circle now!" Dwayne couldn't take anymore screaming from the girl.

"Right, Right!" Chip hovers over the ring; his green jewel necklace starts to glow. "Shatter!" A large green beam shoots down from Chip onto the circle. The dark circle slowly starts showing green cracks around it and then finally shattering to pieces and revealing a green ring in its place. The ring then shoots a larger ray all the way up to the ceiling hitting a large bell at the top. The bell then starts to ring loudly in the temple. The hedgehog looks at the bell and covers her ears screaming. Her body starts glowing green; a Dark Gaia spawn comes out of the hedgehog. It rolls around shrieking in pain before finally disappearing.

"There! That should do it!" said Chip coming back to the two.

"What's that other circle for?" Knuckles points at the new green circle.

"That's to prevent anyone else from making another dark circle. Once we go to all the other cathedrals, I can do the same thing when we get there." Chip explained "But we can only destroy then at night when the guardian of the ring is awake."

"That job can be tiring" Dwayne walks over to the hedgehog who was still on the ground. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Uhhhh….." The girl slowly gets up shaking her head. She opens her eyes that were no longer soulless but now pink. She turns and looks at the three looking at her. "Oh, my! What have I been doing? Where am I?"

"Good, it looks like the demon has left her body" Chip said flying up to her. "Are you ok?"

"Yes…my head hurts a little, but I'll live." She stands up and looks at the three. "*gasp* what kind of people are you?" she was shock to see a vampire echidna and a werehog

"Oh…" Dwayne changes back to his normal hedgehog form. "Don't be scared…we're not going to hurt you" Dwayne said in the softest way possible.

"Whoa…you can change whenever you want?" Chip asked floating around Dwayne in a circle.

"Uhhh….yeah we can explain what we are in a minute. So, what are you doing here?" Knuckles was trying to show that they weren't a threat "How did you end up here?"

The hedgehog looks down. "The grand mafia chased me here"

"Why would the grand mafia chase you?" Dwayne asked "Are you a field worker for a criminal lord?"

"No…for months now, my bo- I mean my** friend** and I have been tracking down a Criminal lord who has been causing havoc at the South continent who's threating to enslave the people of **Mazzuri. ** I have to go back and help the tribes, or else they could be doomed.

"Another criminal lord?" Knuckles slams his fist together while growling.

"Which one?" Dwayne asked.

"His name is **Plague vior Gessian (Gi-ze-in)** one of the drug manufactures of the grand mafia. My friend and I were going to take him on, but I haven't seen him or got word from him for days and I'm starting to get worried. We were supposed to meet here, but then I was found out by one of the leading criminal lords in this region. I hid here till night fall but then after that, I don't remember anything.

"That pig Gessian needs to be roasted alive." Dwayne looks at the hedgehog with a determine face while getting out a com-link. "Looks like you got yourself a free taxi ride, lady. Richter, we're returning to the ship with some new info. Can you make sure the ship is ready for takeoff?"

"Muhhhh…sure…..right away" Richter said over the com-link

"Wait…..Richter Solairte, is your boss?" the hedgehog asked

"No, but he is looking for criminal lords too" Knuckles said "Maybe he can help"

"But…he's a blood thirsty criminal lord who kidnaps people. And I heard he was a ruthless killer who has eliminated many zones and cities"

"Heh?" Dwayne smiled while looking down, Knuckles just scratches his head. "I have no idea how these rumors get started. But I can promise you he's not what you think."

"No way Richie is that way! He gave me chocolate! He's a real nice guy!" Chip said in front of the hedgehog's face.

"I'm warning you" the hedgehog touches her arm bracelet that turns into reaper, and points it at them. "No funny business."

"She has a Jema too?" Knuckles asked

"Now I know who you are." Dwayne said with his arms crossed. "You're a bounty hunter aren't you?" Dwayne looks at her stance.

"And what if I am?"

"Dwayne, how do you know what she is?" Knuckles asked

"Think about it. She just said that she was hunting down criminal lords, and that the mafia was tracking her down. And furthermore she has a Jema, a mineral that isn't used by the police or the military."

"You got all that just by what she was saying and what she had?"

"That, and the fact that she has a Extreme gear disk on her right hip"

The hedgehog looks at the disk and back at the other three. "Ok, so I am a bounty hunter, what of it?"

"Just come with us" Knuckles waling up to her. "We have no reason to trick you"

The hedgehog looks at the two and nods while putting her reaper down. "Alright then" She then brings out a disk like device that turns into a gear. It turns into a yellow hover wheel type gear with black highlights and a few hovering devices around the front. She hops on and revs the engine. "Lead the way"

"Ohh I want to ride!" Chip hops on the handlebars of the gear. "By the way, what's you name?"

"**Suni, Suni the hedgehog**." The hedgehog smiled at Chip.

"For a bounty hunter you're kind of nice" Chip said smiling. Suni just laughs nervously and sees Dwayne get on his gear.

"We'll take you back to the ship" Dwayne flies off as Knuckles jumps into the air and starts flying. Suni revs her engine and follows.

_**Chun-Nan Climax **_

The three walk all the way back to the village; they could see some robots and villages fixing the village. "Must have been some fight" Dwayne and the others could see some craters, scorch marks and some damaged buildings.

Suni looks at around and sees some villages working hard some village children even crying due to all the destruction. "Is this what your leader did?" Lori asked

"No" Knuckles turns back at faces Suni. "This is what the people who we're fighting has done, and these robots are fixing up what they destroyed. Alice made them.

"Alice?"

"You'll find out soon enough." They finally reached the elders home. When they entered they could see the elder sitting at the back along with Ryan who was having tea.

Ryan sets his tea down and looks at Dwayne. "Oh, hello Dwayne" Ryan sounded a bit down when talking to Dwayne.

"Ryan?" Dwayne walks up and sits down next to him.

"You're a friend of Sonic the hedgehogs aren't you?" the elder asked

"Uhh…yeah I am. Heh heh…he and I go way back." Knuckles gets out a black urn and gets two cups. "Could I use these?"

"Yes, of course! Help yourselves to some of my ginseng…uhhhh" Knuckles pours two cups of black blood into the cups. "What is that?"

"It's uhhh….wine" Knuckles lied trying to freak out the elder. He drags one of the cups over to Dwayne. Suni lowers her head at the urn to smell it and quickly backs away from it covering her nose. She was trying to say something but Knuckles covers her mouth. "Uhhh it's a very strong wine brewed by captain Chrome and is very strong, and only made for grownups!"

"Got any dragon tail dumplings?" Chip asked the elder.

"I got some right here!" a young woman came in with a plate of dragon tail dumplings and set it next to Chip. "I know how much you like them so I made a big plate for you"

"Whoa…thanks!" Chip starts eating them up.

"Ni how! (hello) People!" Richter came into the room and, saw Knuckles, Dwayne, Chip, and Suni.

"*gasp* Suni looks at the elder and back at Richter. "They are letting this guy in?"

"Ah Captain Richter! Welcome!" The elder greeted "Please have a set. Where is the rest of your crew?"

"They're helping around the town and getting ready to take off. How are you feeling?" Richter looks at Suni who was staring at him. "Hello!" Who are you?"

Suni looks at Knuckles who gives her a nod. She then looks back at Richter. "My name is Suni." She said in a serious tone. "You're a criminal lord, right?"

"Well" Richter instantly shows up behind the hedgehog. "That depends on what you call, "Criminal" Richter then zooms back in front of her. "If you think it's criminal to…save the cities from monsters, creeps, rapist, and masterminds…than yes….I am a criminal"

"What?" Suni tilts her head at the echidna. "Is this guy for real?"

The elder clears his throat "You and your friends done so much for us! On behalf of the entire village we thank you all"

Ryan then stands up looking at Richter "Richter," Richter looks up to Ryan. "Will it be Ok if I joined you?"

Richter grins at him when he asked him that. "Sure! We got plenty of room for you, old friend." Richter pats him on the shoulder

"Splendid! Sometime away from your home may do you some good, Ryan." The elder said while drinking his tea.

"I can go?" Ryan asked the elder

"Yes, I highly recommend it"

"T-thank you, your honor." Ryan bows in front along with Richter.

"Just what is wrong with this guy" Suni said to herself. "Is he really the dangerous criminal lord?"

"So, Richter Where to next?" asked Knuckles finishing his blood

"I'll explain once we get back on the ship. Elder it's been fun, but it's time for me to get going." Richter waved.

"Wait, take these with you." The elder shows Richter five large boxes of Chum-Nan's famous Dragon Tail Dumplings.

Richter's mouth starts to drool as he took the boxes with him on his way out. "Thank you so much! Well Good bye and good luck."Richter said as he walked out with the others.

"May the great Gaia Phoenix look after you on your journey."

As they were heading back Richter sets the boxes down and puts then in his storage cube. The cube in cases the boxes inside, and the cube hops back over to Richter, who puts it in one of his pockets. "Ok, the robots are around cleaning up what's left of the village. They'll stick around and be called back to the ship later."

"Great" Knuckles said looking around.

"Wait, Uhhh...Mr. Richter"

"Just call me Richter" Richter turns around to the girl.

"The robots belong to you?"

"They're actually my daughters handy work. Such a sweet girl. So…what reason do you have following little old me? Feel like become a dusk raider?"

"Well, uh not exactly…but I was wondering."

"You know, I couldn't help but notice that thing on your neck. It's a Jema right?"

"Well….uhhh…."

"And you even have your own disk! An extreme gear disk at that! And your attire you look raider marital! "

"But I don't want…"

"Don't be shy! Dwayne, did you see her in battle?"

"She did fight, but she was acting like a demon at the time" Dwayne answered

"Gasp* you don't say…"

"I…was...possessed…?" Suni said in a shocked expression.

"You are so modest!" Richter said patting her shoulder. "That means you were a natural killing machine! I love it!"

"No, Richter you don't under-"

"Come on! Let's head back! I got a perfect place for you!" Richter starts walking out of the village.

All three of them look at Richter dumbfounded. "What…what kind of person is this guy?" Suni asked.

"No idea."

Richter and the others were walking back to the ship. Suni was slowly following behind. Richter looks behind and sees Suni following him while keeping a close eye on him. Richter tilts his head in curiosity. "Muhhhh…why so close? "

"This girl says that she's a bounty hunter looking for a criminal lord" Dwayne said.

"Ohhhh….so she's not wanting to join the dusk raiders?" Richter asked his friend. You're one of those people who want to turn people like me in for money?"

"Well...since you…put it that way." There was a strange silence until Richter broke it.

He was laughing lightly. "Now I get it!

"Then you know why I'm following you" Suni said reaching for her necklace.

"You want to come with me because you want to give up your bounty hunter ways, and join the dusk raiders!"

Suni and the others had a small sweat drop coming down their faces. "Well not to worry! An assassin came and joined us! So we have room for a bounty hunter like you! Come on!"

Richter continues walking back to the ship, followed by the others. "Wow, he took that better than I thought" Knuckles said

"But this isn't right! He should want to kill me, or…or do horrible things to me…or…capture me…why is he welcoming me like this?"

"Who knows" Dwayne said following Richter. "Richter is just being Richter"

"Just playing along" Knuckles said "Trust me, I don't think Richter is the kind of captain you want to hunt down."

Suni looks at Chip who was hovering around her, and looks back at the others heading back to the ship.

_**Who will you bite?**_

Suni came walking into the main room looking at everyone. In the main room Zeke and Ty were checking out there new attire, Zeke was feeling his fangs with his tongue and slowly flapping his wings. Ty was feeling his body and waging his tail. "Humans with tails and wings? What kind of crazy ship is this?"

"So….do I have to…..you know…have to suck blood?"

"Yup!" Tawny said while coming over and hugging him "You'll bite even more victums."

"Bite…victums?" Suni asked herself.

"Uhhh…that's great and all…heh..heh.." Zeke had a small sweat drop come down his face.

"Knuckles" Knuckles sees Sonic walking up with Amy walking behind him. "About time you got here. I thought you got lost or something"

"Humph! Knuckles crosses his arms scoffing.

"What are you?" Suni comes up to Sonic and gets a closer look.

"Who's this?" Amy asked looking at her. She was making sure Suni didn't get too close to Sonic.

"Name's Suni. She wants to go with us to Mazzuri."

"Huh. Didn't know Richter had a taxi service."

"Is there a reason why you're looking at him?" Amy asked the yellow hedgehog.

"Oh!" Suni then looks at Amy's face and knew why she was acting the way she was. She backs way from Sonic and rubs the back of her head. "I'm sorry!" She laughs nervously. "I just want to know what are you people?"

"They are vampires!" Richter comes from behind scaring Suni, making her jump. "The KarmaKarmazizi!"

"The what?"

"He means, Cramoisi" Amy said

"Are you pirates too?" Suni asked

"No" Tawny walks up with Zeke. "We are hunters of evil who live in darkness and serve the light. "

"We're a lot nicer than you think" Amy added "but if you chose to be one" Amy runs over and hugs Sonic. "I saw him first!"

"Amy.." Sonic smiles while rolling his eyes.

Suni turns over and sees Richter eating a large bowl of ice cream. "Is he one too?"

"YUCK! No!" Tawny said "If I were you, I'd stay away from him"

"Just ignore her" Amy said.

"So, you guys are good guys right?" Suni asked

"You might say that"

"Knuckles, what did you say about Mazzuri?" Sonic asked his echidna chum.

"That's where we're headed next. Apparently we have to save the tribes there or they will be in some kind of danger.

"Mazzuri.." Sonic looks down in though. And then thinks back to what he heard form that sliver wolf.

"_Do not let the Exen of earth go to the savannah citadel in Mazzur_i"

Those words played over in his head. "Is there something wrong, Sonic?" Amy asked There were so many thoughts running through Sonic's head and the moment. He kept thinking about many things, the dream he had, the fights with enemies he knew were killed, Shadow's doubt, and the silver wolf.

"He holds his head and closes his eyes. "I…I need to get some rest" Sonic turns around and starts walking back to his room. Amy just turns and smiles and Suni while following him.

_**Worried**_

Amy comes back into the room looking at Sonic who was looking outside the window as the rain comes down. Amy walks up to Sonic and hugs him from behind. Sonic felt Amy's hug and touches her hands while closing his eyes. He then feels her grip getting tighter. He didn't know why, but it seemed like Amy didn't want Sonic to leave for some reason. "Sonic…." Amy said in a serious tone. "I want you to tell me what's been bugging you, and I'm not letting go until you do"

"What?" Sonic asked in shocked expression.

"I can stand here all night if I have to"

Sonic then sighs in defeat. Amy knew Sonic almost better than anyone. He understands how he should have said something before. "Amy…I"

"is this about the dream?" Amy asked her hedgehog boyfriend.

"Now did you know?"

"Sonic. When are you going to understand? Our souls are connected as Cramoisi. If you're happy, sad, angry, upset, I know about it. You can't hide anything form me, even if you were doing something private in the restroom. So come on, spill it"

Sonic sighs and then finally speaks to Amy about the dream to where she and the other Cramoisi were laying in coffin like boxes in their normal forms. When Amy hears this she steps back and kneels on the ground. She had no idea what to say after hearing what Sonic just told her. She able to say something, but not much. "Was there…anything…else?"

"Last thing I saw were three other coffins. Two had echidnas that looked a lot like Richter and Chrome, and the third one looked just like the silver wolf Shadow and I fought. After that this little girl came over and was hugging the coffin with the orange echidna in it. She then came to he and said to…save them"

"Save who?" Amy gets up and walks over to Sonic.

"She just said save them from the dark ones. After that I saw the same large orange liquid beast from the other dream I had about the burning village, after that I woke up"

"I…I see" Amy walks over to her bed and sits down.

"Amy…." Sonic looks directly into Amy's eyes. "I know you wanted to be with me, and I know everyone else is happy, but….what if…what if we made a mistake becoming Cramoisi?"

Amy was shocked to hear Sonic; she moves back from him on her bed. "How…how could you say that? Are you saying that it was a mistake accepting my love?"

"That's not what I meant!"

"I know you're still upset about how you have to kill in order to live, or the fact that you can't feel the sun without getting burned, but how could you not be happy being with me?"

"AMY!" Sonic shouts at Amy looking at her in face. "I never said I didn't love you!' I'm just….i'm just confused…..you know how much I care for you, and how sad I felt when you told me how sad you were whenever I ran away. I know Madame Darcy showed us how much we care for each other, but…what if….what if she's playing us?"

Both of them stare at each other not saying a word. Amy then inhales while closing her eyes. "Do you think Richter will join us?"

Sonic jumps out of shock hearing Amy. "Wha-what? Where did that come from? I asked you what if everything Mother said was a lie."

"I know I know, but just answer my question. If Richter became a Cramoisi, that means he won't enjoy sweet things like he does now."

"Amy….' Sonic was now more confused than ever, hearing Amy go completely off topic.

"Sonic. Remember when we first met Shadow, and how he wanted to destroy the world?"

'How could I forget?" Sonic finally sits down on the bed.

"And Knuckles when he thought you wanted the master emerald, or Silver who wanted to kill you?"

"Yeah…"

"Or Blaze when you fought her on the space station?"

"Yeah that was cool!"

"And when Richter fought you when you first met?"

"Where are you getting with this?"

"You have met some strange people in your life, and yet things still always turn out good in the end even when you died you came back"

"Ugh! Don't remind me…" Sonic remembers bits and pieces about what happened to him a long time ago.

"I wouldn't let that happen again, but as long as you were brought back. My point is no matter what happens you're friends are your strongest weapon, even if it turned out Madame Darcy was playing us, which I highly doubt. And…there's one more thing" Amy turns over to Sonic and gives him a deep kiss. Sonic didn't mind; he felt his lips touching hers as they were both tasting each other's mouths. When they broke Amy holds Sonic's face. "No matter if we're all pawns in Madame Darcy's game, if we are all part of her little fantasy world with happy ever after endings, or if everything we learned is true. Know I'll be by your side no matter what. I'll never let go of you, no matter how much you beg."

"Amy…." Sonic closes his eyes and kisses her again. After they broke again, Sonic smiles. "I promise to look after you too. Even if I had to fight Mother to get to you, I promise I'll fight for you."

"Sonic…promise me. Promise me you won't lose yourself in doubt."

"I promise. I don't know if being a Cramoisi was the smartest choice. But I know choosing you was my best."

((((((((TBC)))))))))

What is in store for our heroes come next time? Will sonic and shadow get over their doubt or are they right to suspect their new friends in this never ending fight?

Zhǎo chū xià yīcì! (Find out Next time!)

_**Off panel**_

_**The wrong place at the wrong time Pt 2**_

_**Walk a mile in my shoes**_

_**Note; if you read the last off panel from the last chapter in blue dusk you will know that Tawny and Richter have switched bodies. In this off panel though they have different bodies they will still be called by their normal names.**_

Richter and Tawny fell out of the chute and into a group of boxes. Tawny gets up and starts scratching her-er…Richter's body and Tawny- I MEAN RICHTER gets up while shaking his-TAWNY"S body! (still confusing!)

"This is all your fault!" both said in unison. "My fault? You're the one who broke her machine! NO! YOU BROKE IT! CUT IT OUT!" they continued to say the same thing to each other.

"This has gone too far!" Tawny said "You better tell that twisted daughter of yours she better fix us now, or so help me I am going to murde-" Richter looks at Tawny with a death glare forcing her to finish that last word. "Uhhh….look! Just tell her to change us back!"

"Look, things like this happen all the time. Alice is just playing with us because we did her wrong. All we can do right now is just play along until she feels better, then she'll come get us and bang! Back to normal. In the meantime we'll just have to make do"

"Make do with what?" both of them see Rin-Rin standing in the hallway with an ice cream cone looking at them. "What are you guys talking about?"

'Uhhh…you see…" Richter walks up to Rin-Rin but was pulled back by Tawny. Tawny grabs her body and runs deeper in the hall leaving Rin-Rin.

Rin-Rin just stands there looking at the two run off. "mmmmm…." She then looks at her ice cream. "Whoa! Where did this come from?"

Tawny was in another bed room panting while scratching Richter's body. "Ok, I think we're good. Why is your body so itchy?"

"Oh yeah…well yesterday I ran into a dirty beach rat and he had a nasty case of fleas! It's been so hard to get rid of them.

"Ewwwwwwww! Tawny squints her eyes after hearing Richter. "Richter! What are we going to do? I don't want your gross body!"

"Well your body seems nice I don't mind having it…wait…WHAT AM I SAYING? I want my body back! Why did you pull me away?"

"Because! If anyone saw us like this, they'd laugh at us and ask us questions that should never be answered in this fan fiction!"

Richter looks away. "And I thought I was the only one who broke fourth wall" Tawny sprays her body with anti-flea spray she found. "Ok, so what we just act like each other?"

"Sure! I'll pretend to be you. (mimics Richter) I'm Richter and I like to eat candy and chocolate and hug little boys touching them in random places"

"Oh ha ha!" Richter fake laughs. "And it's so easy to be you, I'll just beat everyone else and...WHAT I do not beat up everyone else-OW!"

"WHAT! I do not bet up everyone else-OW!" Richter punches tawny on the shoulder. "Oh….you think you're so smart, don't you?"

"Meh I dabble"

"Listen here you little prick! If you do ANYTHING that isn't something that would normally do, I will make your life a living hell!"

"How is that any different from now?"

Moments later, both of them arrive in the mess hall looking at their groups hang out and eat. "Remember….don't do anything stupid." Tawny reminded.

"Got it!" Richter walks over to the other human children.

'Tawny!" Zeke, who was now a Cramoisi, looks at Tawny and Richter.

"Hello Zeke!" Tawny walks over and acts flirty with Zeke who gives her a curious look. She then turns to Richter who was moving his hand over his throat. Tawny then moves back, after remembering that she wasn't in her body.

"what's wrong with Richter?" Zeke asked

"Oh, she-er HE"S just kind of shakey because she felt so bad fighting me." Richter said acting girly. Fortunately, even though they were both inside different bodies, when Richter would talk, he would sound just like Tawny. And vice versa when Tawny talks in Richter's body (does that make sense? I hope so)

"Hey Tawny" Jayden brings out a black urn and pours a cup of blood and gives it to Tawny. "I got this from a prideful man. I know your blood affinity is pride.

Richter looks at the cup and sticks out his tongue in disgust. He then looks at Tawny who is mouthing the words drink the cup. Richter looks at the cup and narrows his eyes.

"Don't you like it?" Jayden's eyes start to well up.

"OH NO!" Richter laughed "Sure I do! I was just sticking out my tounge because my mouth was so dry, and I can't wait to drink this….yummy…tasty….blood…bottoms up!" Richter slowly takes the cup, makes a big gulp and slowly puts it up to his mouth and starts drinking the blood. As it goes down he could taste the evil in the cup touch his tongue. He finishes the cup and sighs. "That…was...actually pretty good!"

Tawny sighs in relief. "This all might work out just-WHA!' tawny sees Quinn right in front of her face after turning around.

"Chao chao choa chi chao choa chao chao chao!" Quinn said.

"Uhhh…..wha…"

'He said "He was wondering if you were ok after Alice snatched you way. " Richter came up and whispered to Tawny.

"Oh…well…ummm…yeah...she didn't do anything to me

"Good" Chrome walks up to Tawny and pats her on the shoulder. "Because it's training time! Let's head to the hot shelter!"

'YEAH! Said the younger ones leaving the room

'Oh Crap! I forgot today was training day!" Richter shouted.

"Rleax" Tawny said "How hard can it be?"

"look you don't understand you're….ohhhh…..' Richter touches his lower belly and rubs it. "Oh my..or your stomach hurts….oh man…this stomach is really hurting me. AHHHHHH! WHY DOES MY STOMOACH HURT! SO BAD!" Richter keels down while groaning.

"Oh no…I forgot…I'm having it's _that _time of mouth again" Tawny said slapping her face.

"What? You girls go through this kind of stuff normaly?" Richter was kneeling down feeling pain

"For the love of! Come here!"

_**Moments later.**_

Both were walking in the hall way. Tawny looked down with a sad face. Richter was feeling much better and smiling. "Ok...does your stomach feel better now?"

"This feels comfy!" Richter goofily giggles while hugging his body. Tawny just slaps her face

"There you are!" the two of them see Chrome walking up to Tawny and grabbing him by the dread. 'You're coming with me to train the young ones!"

"OW OW OW OW!" Tawny said as Chrome was pulling on her. "_TAWNY_ come help me!" Tawny's tone was telling Richter to follow him.

Everyone was in the training room, either in the ring fighting or sitting in the chairs watching. Zenith was bringing down a large hoard of robots with his lighting attacks. He must have brought down at least fifty of them. "I'm going for the high score!" Zenith said boasting and laughing.

"Malfunction" He heard a loud computer voice say on the big monitor over the arena.

"Huh?" Before he knew it Zenith was ejected from one of the tiles on the floor into the air and outside of the roof. "AHHHHHHHHHH! WHY MEEEEEEEEE!"

"There goes Zenith" said Mercury watching from her chair.

"Yup" said scarlet sitting next to her.

"Let's get to work! Chrome said dragging Tawny in the arena and throwing her down in front of the young crew mates. "Alright listen up! We're going to show you basic fighting positions and stances. Pay close attention as Richter demonstrates said procedure. We will start by the art from of elemental use. This requires you to summon your weapon and use your element in sync. Richter?"

Tawny gets up and looks at Chrome. "Uhhhh…"

"Uhhh Chrome…" Richter walks up to Chrome. "Taw-uhhh me I mean Richter isn't feeling right so he may be kind of not be in the mood to train."

"I don't want to hear any excuses, Tawny. Now please stand in the lineup with the others.

"Oy!" Richter walks up and looks at Tawny who wasn't moving. "He never listens to me, even when I'm NOT me!'

"You say something Tawn?" Saphron asked next to her.

"Oh nothing!"

Tawny stands there looking at the young ones trying to think of something to say. "Uhhh..what was I supposed to do again?"

"Summon your weapon" Chrome whispered.

"OH! Right! Now…pay attention kids! Heh heh….uhhhh what I'm going to show you is how to summon your weapon! Heh heh! Uhh…..ummm…" Tawny didn't know what to do. She looks at Richter who was quietly showing her how to summon a weapon without showing everyone else. "Ok,, just lift your hands and…" Tawny tries to summon her weapon. "Come out already!" Tawny may have Richter's body, but she does not have his knowledge on elemental use nor how to summon hammers. 'Why won't you come out!"

"*sigh*" Richter slaps his face. "Hold on a minute, Chrome. Is it ok if I show everyone?"

"No!" Chrome said strictly.

"Ok…." Richter runs up to Tawny and grabs her and runs out of the room.

"Tawny! *sigh* Chrome looks at the young learns and smiles. "I'm going to see what's wrong. Practice your stances.

Alice was looking at all this at the top seat while eating a bowl of raw fish. "*sigh* they still have much to learn about each other"

((((TBC))))

Will they get this whole situation figured out? Find out next time.

(((((Next Blue Dusk))))))

Rouge; Sonic may be believing mother, but Shadow is still doubting everything we've been fighting for. I don't know what Klaus told him, but because of it he's been acting different to everyone…even me…when we arrive in the next place to seal the Gaia gate, things just get worse the entire shroud his here again and this time, it looks like this time Klaus doesn't want any failure , if that wasn't bad enough Richter and chrome aren't helping us fight, why is that? Could Shadow be right?

Next time:

Deceived; The true enemy

Rouge: how could this have happened to us?

(((((((PROFILE UPDATE)))))))))


	12. Deceived! The true enemy is unveiled!

_**So sorry for the long wait! Hope you guys like it!**_

Richter walks into the room with a tuxedo and a bow tie and sits down in a chair.

"Hello" he says in a suave and calm voice. "and welcome to radiant Darkness orange dawn or blue dusk or whatever version your reading. What is this story you ask, well I'm not authorized to tell you, you'll just have to stop being lazy and just read for yourself.

"Ahem. But in all honesty, what you are about to see in this chapter may shock and or amuse you. Depending on who you are or what side you are on; Cramzip, or disk raider. Please note, that this chapter is action pack, horrifying, and so mind boggling crazy that those of you with weak constitutions may want to hit the back key, on your browser right now.

"No? That's the spirit! So because this chapter is so packed, it is somewhat longer than the others. Not only that, but to understand everything that's going on you will have to read BOTH chapters. Whoa…that's got to be like…a bazillion words or something! but not to worry! If you get confused, then just read it over!

"Anyway, I'm making this chapter longer just by talking, so let's get it on, bruddua!"

_**Chapter 12**_

_**Deceived; The true enemy**_

_**Hide and Seek**_

Sonic was walking in the large blue brick castle. He was in a large stone room, looking around when suddenly he sees the same purple boxes as before.

"Oh no….not again…" he thought.

He was hoping he would not be seeing any boxes again, that it was just one bad dream. But when he looks down he sees the same people as before. All of his friends sleeping in the boxes including himself. He looks down at the box and sighs in annoyance, thinking when the torment will end. Suddenly he sees a bright light coming from behind. He turns around and sees different boxes. These were like the glowing purple boxes only instead of purple; they were ether glowing orange or white. Sonic walks over to the boxes and looks down, but he sees nothing. The box was empty, or was it? He moves his hand over the surface of the box and could feel that it's covered up by a lid. When he tries to move it, it barley opens, but he was able to get a glimpse of a cadaver inside the box. It wasn't clear of who it was he couldn't see the color of his fur, or if he was human or mobian.

Suddenly Sonic feels the presence of someone or something. He looks up and sees a little orange echidna. Sonic gets up and slowly walks over to the echidna. The echidna smiles and sticks his tongue out; tempting Sonic to chase him. Sonic did just that, but the echidna turns around and runs away.

"Why you little…" Sonic starts running after it, but for some reason, he wasn't able to catch him. The echidna runs over to a door and opens it while running inside. The door gives out a bright light; Sonic walks over to the door and walks inside. He was shocked to see that he was outside. It was bright and sunny, but he did not feel any burns from the sun. He was in a large field with trees and old ruins.

What also came to a surprise is that he saw little children running around playing. Sonic looks around for that echidna but doesn't find him. He was still freaked out as he looks around at all the kids playing.

"Big brother!" one of the kids comes up and hugs Sonic. Sonic doesn't know what's going on but he pats the little kids head. He was a yellow fox with two tails. "Where have you been? We were going to play hide and seek"

"What are you talking about?" Sonic said "I think you have me confused with someone else."

"What do you mean, little brother?" Sonic sees a red echidna with a pink echidna holding hands walking up to him. "You said you were going to play with us!"

"You better not be lying again!" A white hedgehog said coming up with a purple cat.

"Uhhh…wait just a…huh?" Sonic turns around and sees a pink hedgehog with a sad face looking at him. Her eyes were sparkling in the light as she looks at Sonic as if he was about to give her something.

"You are going to play with us, right?" She said in a small and innocent voice.

Sonic looks at the other kids and back at the pink hedgehog. He looks at all the faces of all the other kids while sighing and then smiling. "Alright, all of you hide and I'll try to find you" He doesn't know why, but he actually feels willing to play hide and seek with these small children

"Yeah!" Everyone runs to different places and hides away from Sonic. He covers his eyes and starts counting.

As he was counting he could hear giggling. He opens his eyes and turns around and sees the little orange echidna. Sonic runs at him but then the echidna turns around and starts running away. Sonic chases after the echidna in a large dark forest. Sonic runs in the forest but loses sight of the orange echidna. He keeps running trying to find him, but doesn't find him. He was all alone in the big black forest.

"Where'd you go?" Sonic asked while walking around "Hello! Hello! Where are you?"

"_Where are you…where are you…." _

"_Sonic!"_

"_Huh?"_

Sonic shoots his eyes open and quickly gets up from his bed looking around. The first person he sees is Amy.

"Are you Ok?" Amy asked while hugging him.

"Yeah…" Sonic said with a low tone.

"Did you have another dream?" Amy looks at Sonic nod slowly. "What was it about this time?"

"You're not going to believe me..."

"Try me…"

_**Angn Kintobor**_

Somewhere else on the ship, Shadow was walking in the halls looking around. He was still thinking about last night, and what he heard from Sonic. There were many thought going through his head. How are the Marcoats coming back? How does he know that the dusk raiders aren't trying to trick them and kill everyone on board? He still doesn't fully trust anyone just yet. Ever since he became a Cramoisi he's been having strange feelings and worries about betrayal from anyone, even his friends. As he was pondering he hears a light thud coming from a room up ahead. He walks in the room and sees Alice on the ground.

"Ouch!" She whined trying to get back up.

Shadow walks over and looks down at her. She was lying on her side trying to get up when she turns over to see Shadow. He then gasped as he saw an image of another girl as Alice looked at him with her innocent eyes. Shadow then leans over and helps her back up.

"Are you Ok?" He asked

"Yeah…Alice just fell down again" Alice gets back on all fours.

Shadow looks around to see what could have tripped Alice. They were in a computer room; he didn't see any wires or cords, Alice wasn't even wearing any shoes. He then turns to Alice and asked her.

"How did you fall?"

"Alice…tried to walk…." She said shyly

"You don't know how?"

"Alice can't walk. Every day she sees everyone around her walking, but she can't walk….." Alice crawls over to the table and works on the computer. Feeling more curious, Shadow walks over and looks at her work.

"Why can't you walk?"

"Alice's body is…..different. She was genetically changed when she was a little girl. It's what turned her into what shad-shad (Shadow) sees now." Alice stops typing for a minute and starts shaking her fist. " It was all because of him. He took them. He took Alice's legs from her!"

"Who took them?" Shadow had a good idea who took them, but at the same time he had no idea.

"It was…**Angn Kintobor**…." Alice said slowly. "He was an evil scientist who wanted to do bad things to people and mobians. He did many bad things to Alice, and her **brother**"

"You have a brother? I haven't seen him"

"Alice's brother is still with Angn Kintobor, doing bad things. Alice wants to save him before he gets himself killed. He's the last of Alice's blood relatives"

"And how you ended up here…."

"Rich-Rich (Richter) saved me. Alice was so happy when she was free."

"And just how nice is he to you? It doesn't sound like he's very responsible."

"What makes you say that?" Alice turns around with a shocked face

"He leaves a little girl down in a lab where anything can happen, without supervision. I actually think you'd be better of being locked away"

"You're wrong!" Alice gets up and stands in front of Shadow. She as a about two feet taller than him. "Daddy always checks on Alice! He has full trust in her and her work! How can Shad-Shad (Shadow) judge daddy so quickly and harshly?"

"Has he helped everyone on here?"

"Yes! Daddy and unchy (uncle) Chrome have helped everyone on this ship with love and care! Daddy tried everything to teach Alice how to act and talk."

"How long has he been watching you?" Shadow was getting tired of asking her questions, but he felt like he needed to know more about this. The more he heard from Alice, the more he feels intrigued, and the more he wanted to learn who did this to her.

"Daddy has been watching Alice for precisely 7 years 11 months 29 days 4 hours 37 minutes and 28 seconds ago" she calculated "It's almost been roughly eight years."

"Humph!" Shadow lowers his head in thought.

"What is Shad-Shad thinking about?" Shadow looks back at Alice. "Oooo…Shad-Shad doesn't like daddy, does he?" Shadow looks at Alice's serious face and nearly blushes. "Alice can see right through Shad-Shad. He needs to learn to trust others, or he'll be all alone.

Shadow turns around while growling. "Don't act like you know everything about me, because you don't!" Shadow walks out the door.

Alice looks at the door and puffs her cheeks out while glaring at the door. "Shad-Shad can be a big meanie! Still…." Alice looks back at her computer and back at the door. "Alice feels sorry for him. She feels that Shad-Shad has dealt with loss…it's almost like how daddy used to….." Alice reached behind her and grabs the plushe doll that looks like Richter. She then hugs it tight.

"Oh Shad-Shad….I hope you learn to trust others."

_**Confessions **_

At the mess hall, some of the Cramoisi were sitting around eating breakfast. Sonic was sitting with Knuckles and Silver; they were both laughing their heads off at Sonic, who was on the other side giving them a cold glare.

"I..I..I can't stop! HA HA HA! It's too much!" Silver gasped between his words laughing.

"Oh! Silver, don't laugh too hard. You might wet your pants and then we'd have to change you!" Knuckles laughed but Silver kind of stopped.

"Stop laughing at him!" Amy shouted. "Sonic was only telling you what he saw!"

"It's alright, Amy" Sonic said hugging her. "I'm having a hard time believing it myself."

"Well, was there anything else?" Knuckles asked in a serious tone.

"Yeah like uhhh…..Shadow having a blanket?" Silver and Knuckles look at each other and start laughing again.

"You guys are so immature!" Amy shouted

"I saw Richter" Sonic mentioned which made the others stop.

"Richter?" they both asked

"Yeah he was a little kid who ran into a large dark forest. I ran after him but when I got into the forest, he was already gone"

"What happened to him?" Silver aksed

"I don't know, he just….disappeared"

There was a long silence until someone shouts. "Captain on Deck!"

Sonic turns and sees Richter looking down. It almost looked like he was smiling as he walks over to the kitchen to get some food.

"Looks like some had had a good morning" Amy said giggling.

"What do you mean by that?" Sonic asked

"I've been seeing you rise up since we started sleeping together."

"Well of course I rise up. I might be dead but I'm getting up just fine."

"You're not the only thing that I've seen rise up in the morning." Amy looks at Richter who was talking with Lila who gave him a plate of food. "And perhaps Richter saw the same thing when he woke up. It's got me thinking."

"What are you talking about Amy?" Sonic was still confused

"We'll talk about it later, Sonic." Knuckles said as he saw Richter walk over to them and sit down.

"Ni How, People!" Richter said while eating his food and splattering it with hot sauce.

Both hedgehogs inhale deeply with their noses. Sonic then smiles as he looks at Richter eating his breakfast.

Sonic then looked at Amy and smiled. "Can you smell that?" Sonic was talking to Amy telepathically.

"Yup I smell it too." Amy then giggles out loud and talks to Sonic telepathically. "What do you think they did?" Amy asked back.

"Don't know let's ask him" Sonic speaks out loud "Hey Richter?"

"Yeaaa? (Yeah)" Richter looked at sonic with his mouth full.

"Eww." Amy narrows in disgust looking at the echidna's messy mouth

"What did you do last night?"

Richter then swallows his food. "Not much. Played some games, watched some anime, had some imported snacks and beverages. "Richter continued to eat his food.

"Did you do anything with Lila?" Amy asked smiling

A chill went up Richter's spine and he almost choked, when he heard those words. He gulped his food "H-How do you know she was in my room?" Richter nervously

"Because you just told us!" Amy giggles at Richter's expression.

Richter looked down and sighed. "Ok, you got me. Yes she was scared of the storm last night so I let her sleep in my room." Richter says leaning his head on his hand while putting more hot sauce on his food.

"You're going to give yourself indigestion." Silver said looking at the food drowning in sauce.

"I'll give_ you_ indigestion" Richter said back

"OH! And what did you two do while you were in the bed together?" Sonic asked with a smirk

"Wow! I hope you were gentle on her. After all she has had a bad history for these kinds of things" Amy said up to Richter's face.

Lila was hearing all this from the kitchen. She blushes and covered her mouth. . "_Oh, No! They know that I slept with Richter. Ohhh! I'm so embarrassed! Richter must hate me now!"_ she thought.

"Whoa-a-Whoa-Now! _She_ climbed in _my_ bed! I didn't do anything with her! I'm a criminal lord yes, but I'm still a virgin!" Richter explained. "I remember when Alice used to climb in my bed when she was just a little girl, and also afraid of storms, so I was alright with her doing it."

"You know, we Cramoisi can smell a whole lot of things, we can also smell certain things, if a certain someone did something. So we know if you are lying." Sonic explained.

"But I'm not!" Richter's face was red as a beat.

"I didn't say you were" Amy laughs while eating some of her food.

"But she didn't say you weren't " Sonic added

"Then you should know I didn't do it!"

"So do you like Lila?" asked Sonic

Richter looks at Sonic, and then looks down. Lila was looking at Richter, feeing her heart beet like a drum.

"Well…." Richter tries to speak, but feels his heart burning like fire and his face beet red "I…I...uhhhh…I Y-Y-Y-Y I-I-I *sigh*

"Come on, Richter" Sonic said smiling "You know you want to say it"

Amy could see Quinn, come out of Richter's hair and crawl down his arm, grabbing some of Richter's food and eating it. Richter saw Quinn but didn't mind him eating his food. There was a long silence until Richter finally spoke.

"Lila and I have known each other for a short time. She's very kind, and sweet, and funny. She may be shy, but she's very nice, and I...she reminds me of my mom. Heh! How Lila cooks for us with Vanilla, and is always there for me reminds me of what my mom used to do."

"Was your mother a good cook?" asked Sonic

"The best! I remember she would whack me on the head for eating some of her food before it was served. Heck, she would bonk me on the head constantly because of how I acted. When I eat Lila's food and look at her face, I think of my mom. But it's not a sad memory anymore. With every new member I get on my ship the pain slowly heals, and Lila she's worth like ten crew members, maybe more!"

"SO? Do you like her or what?" asked Amy with anticipation. "Go on! Say it!" She knew the answer.

Richer feels his mouth go dry as he tries to speak. He then takes a deep breath."….Yes…Yes I do. So much. But don't her please. I don't know if she likes me back. After all, she's been through with…other males"

Lila sees Richter's sad face. She heard every word that came from his mouth she was blushing like crazy. She too also has feelings for Richter. She smiles as she hugged herself and giggled. She didn't know why. She has always been afraid of men because of what they do to her, but Richter was different. She felt as if she could really be happy with him.

"Big Brother" Richter turns and sees little Rocky come up to him while holding Cream's hand. "If you like her then tell her."

"But…I'm…awkward. I'm a 22 year old echidna who loves sweets and anime and have the attention span of a rodent and the mind of a little kid!"

"All those statements are true, Richter" Amy said with no compassion or remorse for what she said. "But you're a nice guy too"

"Richter, before I became a Cramoisi, I fell in love with Cream the moment I saw her." Rocky looks at Cream, who was smiling. "I was so afraid to tell her, and when I hung out with her I felt so connected to her. Then came that time when I was killed."

Richter pats Rocky on the shoulder. "I'll never forgive Klaus for what he did to you by ending your life early, Rocky"

"Well, in my dying words I told Cream how much I loved her, and she told me the same thing. I was so happy but at the same time sad because I thought I would never express my feelings for her anymore.

Cream was weeping a bit when she heard this "I'm sorry" she said "I'm just thinking back to that awful day. I was so sad, I thought Rocky was gone forever."

"But it's Ok Cream, I'm here now and I will always be with you" Rocky lifts her hands looking into her eyes. He then turns to Richter. "Big brother, don't make the same mistake I did. Tell her how you feel"

Richter looks at Rocky's serious face and smiles while letting out a light chuckle and giving Rocky a hug. "You always did make me feel better. Thank you Rocky." Richter then gets out of his chair "I will tell her!" with his fist in the air.

"That's the spirit Big Brother!" said Cream.

Richter walks over to the kitchen; Lila sees him walk over to her.

"Wow…I remember when I was the one who wanted to confess to you" Amy reminds Sonic

"Yeah…but me confessing you was….a little different" Sonic said rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh stop it!" Amy playfully punches Sonic in the shoulder. Sonic grunts in pain while feeling the pain of Amy's playful punch.

"Oh look! Sonic's getting beat up by a girl." Silver insulted "Did Amy beat you up in the dream as a kid-"

"Shhh!" Amy said looking at Richter and Lila from across the mess hall.

"Lila?" Richter was up in front of Lila ready to speak. He then sighs and opens his mouth. "There's something….. I want to tell you." Richter said as he grabs her hands.

Everyone in the cafeteria gets up closer to the kitchen to see Lila and Richer.

"Is he going to do it?" whispered Amy

"Come one Richter" encouraged Knuckles

"You can do it" thought Jazz

"*Sigh* Richter feels sweat coming down his face. He was shaking in his boots. He is hardly scared of anything, but this was probably the most fighting thing he ever tried to do. He lets out another breath from his nose and opens his mouth. "Lila…..I….I…I"

Richter's moment of triumph was shattered to pieces when he hears the loud waling of the ships alarm system.

"AWW Come on!" Richter said while looking up and shouting.

"Attention all passengers, this is an emergency raid! All raiders report to the outside deck!" Chrome said over the intercom.

Richter sighs and looked back at Lila with worried eyes. "Lila I-"

"Go" Lila smiles while looking at Richter.

"What?"

"You're the captain. You should run your ship like one."

Richter looks at everyone else, and then looked back at Lila. "Alright. When I get back, maybe we can watch more ani-"

Suddenly Lila pulls Richter by his vest and kisses him on the lips. Richter's eyes were wide open in shock, but he then closes then slowly, as she felt Lila's warm lips touch his. When the two of them broke, Richter looked at Lila with a shocked expression on his face.

"Now take care of your crew, and everyone on board" Lila doesn't know what came over her, for some reason some force was pressing her to do what she felt was right in her heart.

Richter continues to look at Lila but then nods and smiles "I'll be back. Wait for me, ok?"

"OK" she said quietly

Richter looks back at the crew members and Cramoisi giving Richter a positive expression. "Well, you heard Chrome. LET'S GO!" he ordered trying to keep them focused

"AYE-AYE SIR!" said the crew as they ran out.

Lila just stands there, and slowly touches her face as it was still red. She was so surprised she didn't know what to say or do. These feelings she had where beyond explanation. It was a mixture of happy, shocked, and excited. She then makes a big smile as she closes her eyes, hugs herself, and sighs heavenly. She feels so safe being around Richter, and now she fells overwhelmed that Richter also had the same feelings, and to top it all off they kissed.

Sonic looks at Lila sitting on the chair with a smiling face. He just smiles at the joy he was witnessing. "Way to go. Brother" he said.

Alice comes over and hugs Lila. "Oh, Alice…"

Alice says nothing and just rubs her face against Lila's. Lila hugs Alice back while smiling. Quinn also comes over and hugs Lila's arm. Alice then jumps up in shock.

"OH! Alice has to go help daddy!" Alice kisses Lila's forehead and runs out of the mess hall along with Quinn. Lila just sits down smiling and waving at them after they left.

_**You don't know him**_

The side door of the mess hall opens up, and Shadow walks in the room looking at everyone who had their heads turned to the front door. Shadow quirks his eyebrow in curiosity as he wanted to know what was going on. He walks over to the group. "What's all this?" the black hedgehog asked.

Amy turns her head, at Lila who was still sitting at a table not too far from them, and then turns to Shadow. "Richter just confessed his love to Lila! Or at least he tried to…but then they kissed each other. But that shows that they love each other"

"Humph! She's playing right into his hands" Shadow stands their crossing his arms.

"What are you saying, Shadow" Sonic looks at Shadow as he stood their looking at the him, with a not too friendly stare. "Don't tell me, you still don't trust him"

"Just how much to we know about these brothers? They are criminal lords who asked for our help, and it seems like Chrome knows much about us"

"Well…we are known to be notorious to give heck to many criminals out there" Silver said

"Yeah, but Grapple knew about us and so did the other two criminal lords." Blaze added. "How did they learn about us?"

"I'm guessing it has something to do with the leader" Sonic informs everyone. "Perhaps the leader was told about us by someone else"

"Yeah…it was some dude named….uhhh…._Igilios_…was it?" Knuckles scratches his head. As they were all talking amongst themselves, Lila was listening in on the conversation. She didn't know why, but every time she hears Shadow speak she got more and more upset.

"Who is to say that those two aren't the leaders?" Shadow asked. "Did you forget the Silver wolf?"

Sonic thinks back to when they were back in Chun-nan, where they had a meeting with the silver wolf **Nero**, who claims that he and Richter were in an elite group in the criminal underground. Could it be that Richter and Chrome were both leaders? He then turns to the black hedgehog. "but Shadow, why would those two save us, and even if they did tell the criminal lords about us, why would they want to kill them off?"

"It's all part of their plan." That got everyone's attention, including Lila's. "This whole thing has to be a set up to wipe us all out, or use us for world domination. We know nothing of their past or where they came from"

"That's not true!" Rocky shouted in front of Shadow. "My bother isn't a traitor! He raised me when I was a baby!"

"You were raised by a Criminal." Shadow said coldly. Rocky took a few steps back. "He comes from a long line of criminals and says it with pride." As she was hearing this, Lila was clenching her fist out of rage. She was confused to why she would react to the black hedgehog's words. Rocky also felt the same way hearing Shadow speak. He stares at Shadow, with his eyes filled with rage. Cream looks at Rocky worried. Lila gets up from her chair looking down with her bangs covering her eyes. "It doesn't matter if he's shown kindness. It will all come back to haunt us later, and before we realize it, it will be too late.

"Stop it, Shadow" Sonic said looking at Rocky.

"I'm only speaking the truth Sonic!" Shadow looks at Sonic, shouting.

"That's enough Shadow" Amy said.

"Those two are criminals, just waiting for the right time to-"

*Smack!*

Before Shadow could finish he feels a slap on his face. Everyone looks in shock to see who of all people would even think about slapping Shadow. It was Lila who was still looking down with her bangs covering her eyes. Shadow didn't feel much pain, but he still felt the impact of Lila's hand. Shadow steps back and looks at Lila as she looks up with seething rage.

"Lila…" Amy stares at her with wide eyes. She has never seen Lila this angry before. She stands their staring at Shadow clenching her fist as they were shaking.

"You…..you men are all the same…" Lila said calmly "You think you know everything. You've never gotten to know Richter, or even talk with him to even know what kind of person he was." Lila was looking down with her fist shaking.

"You hardly know him" Shadow said looking away. "What makes you think he's any different from any other man?"

"Don't you _dare _tell me I don't know men!" She bellowed lifting her face so Shadow could see it. "All the men I've met are monsters! I don't know how, but I know Richter isn't that kind of person! Richter may be a criminal; he may be a part of the criminal underground….but….but….YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL HIM EVIL, AFTER EVERYTHING HE'S DONE!" Shadow just stares at Lila as tears start to come down her face and she was sobbing. "I don't know why….but every time I hear you speak so badly about Richter, it makes me sick! And I'll never forgive you for that!"

Lila turns around and storms out of the room, crying.

"Lila!" Amy reaches out her hand after Lila left; she then turns back to Shadow with an angry stare. "When are you going to grow up, Shadow?" she walks off in the same direction of Lila.

"HEY! Get back here!" Shadow shouted back

"You're awful, Shadow" Tails said facing away from him.

"He just confessed his love to her, and it made her happy" Cosmo walks up to Shadow with her arms crossed. "You treated me the same way three years ago, and Rouge, and now Lila. Just how many women hearts are you going to break until you're happy?" Both Cosmo and Tails walk out of the room.

Shadow just stands there and scoffs. "Silver, surely you think something is up"

"Sorry, Shadow" Silver gets up and shakes his head. "But this was low even for you" He then leaves the room also with Blaze.

"Nice." Knuckles looks at Shadow while getting up too along with the others.

Mostly everyone was gone. Sonic and Shadow look at each other. "What is everyone's problem?"

"Look dude, you can be suspicious all you want. When Richter breaks out a piece of Nth metal and uses it to kill us all, then in my dying words I will say you were right. But talking about how evil Richter may be right in front of a girl who loves him and even kissed him, not cool."

"Are you saying, you'd rather see her heart broken after Richter does something to all of us?"

Sonic looks down and closes his eyes. He then looks back at Shadow. "Shadow" He wasn't sure about saying what he was about to say. He didn't know why, but he thought about his dream. About the echidna who was lying in the coffin and the orange echidna who was running in the forest playing a game with him. Deep inside he had no idea, but he feels like he can trust him. "I know Richter won't betray Lila or us. He and his brother have done so much for us, and we've saved hundreds of lives. If you don't believe in Richter, then just believe in saving people's lives."

"Humph! Whatever" Shadow didn't even take it thought after hearing Sonic. He turns around and walks away leaving out of the front door that leads to the lounge room.

Sonic the sighs and shanks his head.

"Sonic" Sonic looks down at Rocky who had tears streaming down his face. "Thank you."

"For what?" Sonic said

"For trusting him. Both of my parents are gone. Richter and Chrome are the only family I have. I mean you Cramoisi are my family also, but…when I saw his face….and how happy he was to see me…I was happy to see my old family is still around. I know he won't betray us .I trust him." Rocky's voice starts to break up as he starts sobbing and covering his face. Cream started to cry too, and walks over to hugs him.

Sonic, with compassion, kneels down and hugs him. "Hey, don't worry, buddy. Shadow will come around" Rocky steps back and wipes his eyes while sniffling.

"Come on, Rocky. Let's go play" Cream said pulling him to the next room.

Sonic looks at them run off. "Guess I'll just chill until…" Sonic then looks around in the large cafeteria, and sees someone sitting at a faraway table. Sonic then walks over to the person, but then steps back in shock.

"Nu…no…way…" Sonic quickly rubs his eyes to see if he was seeing an illusion, but he could not believe what he was seeing. He saw the same orange haired girl sitting at the table looking right at him. She was the same girl that he saw in his dream. "Is this some kind of joke?" he thought to himself.

"Why?" Sonic hears the spooky yet innocent tone of the little girl. She looks down with her bangs covering her eyes. She then looks at Sonic with a sad look on her face. "You said you'd watch over him. Why did you let him leave?"

"Why did I let who leave?" Sonic asked confused. He walks up closer to the girl. "Who are you?"

"Who….you…you forgot….why did you forget? You're so forgetful….first you forget him, now you forget me….why…. "She gets while looking at Sonic with her garnet eyes. "You're awful. Terrible. Because of you he'll die. What will you do then?"

"Who's going die? I don't understand"

"Of course you don't….." the girl then starts to fade away like a ghost. "It's all your fault." She vanishes without a trace. Sonic just stands there in the mess hall with his hand reaching out. He was more confused than ever, and was wondering what just happened.

"Sonic?" Sonic turns his head and sees Amy and Lila walking up to him. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost" she giggles while coming up to him, hugging him and kissing him.

Lila looks away while blushing. "Are you feeling any better?" the blue hedgehog asked; Lila turns to see him smiling.

"Y-Yes…" Lila said a little nervous. "You…you don't think Mr. Shadow is angry with me, do you?"

"Nah! He'll get over it!" Amy said patting her shoulder. "Stuff like that doesn't hurt him at all" Lila looks distraught while looking down. "Hey don't be sad." Amy came up and hugged her. "That was a bold move you did, kissing Richter, and smacking Chrome. HA HA! I've been waiting for someone to put that jerk in his place! So you finally trust Richter now!"

"Y..yes..i do…." Lila said nervously

"So…you like him too?" Sonic asked

"Y-Y..yeah…" Lila's body was feeling hot from the nervousness; she pulls her sweater collar trying to cool off. "Richter isn't like other men. He's different; I know he won't do anything strange to me. Not only that, but I've learned so much about this world: cooking, sweets, and…little ten year old teacher wizards, and vampires with bleeding problems, and humans who can turn into weapons, and…."

"Uhhhh…." Both hedgehogs look away from Lila while smiling nervously. "Richter may be tough….but…when it comes to teaching about the world….he's a horrible teacher."

_**The Mysterious Chao**_

Shadow was walking down the hallway. Right now, he felt strange. Not only because a girl like Lila slapped him, but also because of the things his siblings said. Could he be wrong, about the echidna brothers? He enters another lounge room (The ship has many). This lounge room was smaller than most, the carpet was green as was the long circular couch. It also had wooden walls. There was a small pub like bar on the left hand side with a large TV in the right. Shadow looks at the human children, sitting in front of the television. Scarlet and Rouge were sitting together talking, and Dwayne was sleeping on the table Lori and Jayden were playing a fighting game, mashing buttons and their faces dead locked on the TV.

"Player two defeated!" said the video game.

"DANG IT!" Lori shouted slamming the controller on the ground.

"HA HA!" Jayden laughs triumphantly finishing off the last character and winning. "No one can beat me!" he looks at Lori who was looking at him with a narrow stare. "Uhh…want to play again?"

Shadow scoffs at them and sits down next to Rouge, who leans over and gives him a peck on the cheek. "What's wrong, baby?" Rouge can obviously tell why her lover was feeling different.

"I don't understand women" Shadow said crossing his arm.

"He's just mad, because he got slapped by Lila, because he was bagging on our leader" Scarlet said giggling.

"Rocky told you!" Shadow gets up quickly staring at her.

"News…travels…fast…. on this ship" Scarlet said slowly. "In the criminal world, we call news the **fire storm**, because it spreads like one. HA HA!"

"GRRR!" Shadow was about to walk up to her when he feels a large hand stop him. He turns and sees Dwayne staring at him stopping him with his large hand. He was growling at Shadow telling him to back off.

"Oh, Dwayne" Scarlet comes up to him and hugs him. The human children were looking over the couch at the four mobians. They all hear the door open and see someone else walk in. They see the yellow hedgehog, Suni walk in the room with a small chao.

"I think it's great that you guys are together" Rouge said smiling while holding Shadow's shoulder's. "So, um, I meant to ask earlier, but it doesn't seem like you're a vampire, Scarlet."

"A vampire?" Scarlet looks at Dwayne and back at Rouge. " OH!" Scarlet laughs "No, Dwayne hasn't…I mean he didn't….uhh…I mean"

"He hasn't bitten you, yet?" Shadow asked. Suni was listening in while petting the chao.

"No. He and I just agreed not for him not to bite me, that's all" Scarlet said smiling. "Plus, I'm a fruit bat, I don't like blood and meat." Scarlet starts laughing.

"That laugh sounds pretty fake." Tawny said from behind the couch.

"What do you mean?" Zeke asked next to her.

"It sounds like she's faking it" Jayden added. "She's not telling them the full truth."

"You guys can tell what they feel just by looking at them?" Lori asked

"Yeah, we got it like that" blonde girl boasted. "At least we can tell when she's faking it, but I can't tell if that fairy man, Richter is faking his actions."

"Will you stop calling him that?" Ty asked from across the room. Ty's neck was hooked up to a small handheld device. He was monitoring the device that was showing grids and life lines. "I know he's wired, but he's not all bad."

Suni comes over and sits on the far end of the couch. "Yeah right, he's a criminal lord. They are all the same."

"Are you Ok, Miss?" Zeke asked walking up to Suni. "Did, Mr. Richter do something to you?"

"No…but what he might do, considering he's a Criminal lord."

"I put my full trust in Chrome" Lori said.

"What's that thing on your wrist?" Suni asked pointing at Lori.

Lori had a metal ring attached to her wrist that was glowing teal. "Oh, Sensei told me I had to leave this on my wrist to help harness my new power.

"You're a dusk raider, huh?" Suni asked "Do you know what Captain Chrome does?"

"Well…uhhh…I know he meditates a lot, and has a huge interest in Japanese and other Asian cultures."

"Anything else?"

"OH! He has a large wine stash behind his bookshelf" Everyone lowered their heads in discontent.

"OHHH!" Saphron runs up to Suni, looking at the Chao. "It's so cute! Is he yours?"

"No" Suni answered in an innocent tone "I found him on the deck." Suni then smiles as she was petting the chao hearing it giggle.

"Chao chao chao chao!" The chao said happly. "_Hey! Do any of you guys know Solairte_?" He was speaking in his mind, but no one could hear what he was saying.

"It's so adorable, I could die!" Saphron grabs the chao and hugs him. "Or…die again"

"What do you mean again?" Lori and Suni asked.

"You still don't trust Richter?" Rouge asked Shadow.

"Nope." Shadow said sure of his answer.

"Humph. Think whatever you want" Dwayne said carelessly. He walks over to the bar and slams the table. A robot hovers over and gives him a glass of red wine. "But I don't want up to my arms up in those blue stones that could kill me." He starts drinking the glass full of wine.

"Shadow, even though you don't trust us, know that I will make sure you don't get killed by those criminal jerks. Dwayne and I are rebelling against them too."

"Why are you rebelling against them?" Rouge asked

"It's…kind of a long story. We once thought that our lives would be set, but after a while we learned that were selling our souls to the devil, and we didn't know it."

"So you joined Richter because you think he's against the criminal underground?

"I _know_ he's against the underground. It makes me sad that you don't see what he's trying to do, but I understand." Scarlet can hear the com-link in her hear beep. She pushes the button and talks through it. "Yes?" The others look at Scarlet as she was talking through the communicator. "Yes. Yes. Ok. Understood. Signing out." She looks back at the others and smiles. "Duty calls!" Scarlet walks out of the room, Dwayne gets up and burps while following her.

"The others are coming back." Ty said detaching the wire to his neck. "Why don't we go check it out?"

"I'll go!" Saphron said. "Come on, Suni"

"_*Sigh* No one is helping me." _ The chao sighs and starts flying out of the door. "Chao chao chao chao chao. _*I'll find Solairte myself" _

"Oh, no!" Suni runs after the Chao. "Come back!" She leaves the room looking for the Chao.

"Wait up, Suni!" Saphron, Jayden and Lori go and look or the chao.

_**Do you want to be one?**_

Moments later, many of the Cramoisi and Raiders were in the in the mess hall eating lunch. Shadow and Rouge come walking in the room. Shadow looks at Lila who was gathering up dirty dishes. Lila just scoffs while turning her head and walking off to the kitchen. Shadow sighs and sits over to a table far away from the kitchen. Sonic and Amy couldn't help but laugh. Knuckles, Tails, and Cosmo were sitting at a table closest to the kitchen.

"Want me to get you lunch, honey?" Rouge asked

"Yeah" Shadow said

Jayden and Saphron come in the room and sit down at a table next to Sonic and the others. "I can't believe we lost the chao" Saphron sighed

"Suni and Lori are still looking, even after I told them that I can't smell them on the ship any more" Jayden said.

"I hope it's ok. Poor little guy…"

Richter was walking while whistling through the halls and walks into the kitchen seeing some of the Cramoisi and the crew members little while after lunch. Lila was in the kitchen cleaning dishes. Richter looks through the window from where he was standing, looking at Lila. She looks up and lets out a small gasp while aiming her eyes the other way smiling and blushing. He walks over and sits next to Sonic and Amy with his head turned over to the window.

"Well if it ain't the conquering hero." Sonic said Richter wasn't paying attention as he was still looking at Lila. "Wow...someone's love sick"

'Hey…Richter" Amy comes up to Richter. "You never told us about your father." Said Amy "What kind of man was he?"

Richter then comes back to reality when he hears Amy. "You…you want to hear about my father?" Richter asked while turning around.

"Yes, please. I mean, if you don't mind"

Richter takes a deep breath before answering. "He was one the best Captains ever. He and my mother were the ones who practically ruled the criminal underground with their large ship that sailed the sky just like the Terra sunset. He was known as the **Pirate King**, the greatest of thieves, and did many of the things that me and my bro are doing now. He was more than my father, he was my hero. Not only was he a great man, but he was kind too. He loved me and Chrome and my mom. He would give his own life for us if he had to."

"Wow…." Amy smiled as she was hearing Richer

"Was… he an earth user like you?" Knuckles came up asking.

"He was an earth and steel user. Steel users are like an evolve form earth users and are said to excel in defense. However, there aren't many steel users out there anymore. Only Robians are known to be high class steel users. My dad was the **last organic steel user** I knew."

"He must have been the one who loves candy right?" asked Tails

"Actually, he once told me that I get that from my mom" said Richter "My mom would always reach into one of her satchels and give me some candy, telling me it would give me a burst of high energy"

"So if he was so powerful, why did he die?" asked Cosmo "Who beat him?" There was a long silence after she asked him. "It's Ok you don't have to tell us if you don't-"

"He was betrayed" Richter said looking down and closing his eyes. "Then killed in front of me…"

Lila overhears this and covers his mouth. She then feels bad for Richter and slowly walks over to him.

"By who?" asked Sonic.

"Hey, big Brother" everyone turns around and sees Tawny with Zeke holding hands. "When are we going to be in the next town? I'm a little hungry also Zeke has to learn how to bite people too."

"Tawny, they are humble villagers. I don't think anyone there would be a black hearted person." Jayden said "Well…actually….all of them are dark…but that's different"

"Black humans, White humans, tan humans why do humans make such a big deal out of that? All of you little humans are alike to me; tall, furless, and tailless" Richter said shrugging his shoulders.

"Hey, everyone on this planet's a sinner, and that means we drink form them, so there"

"Tawny, could you come and whine later? We're trying to listen to Richter" said Knuckles

"I heard everything. Here's an Idea just make Richter into a Cramoisi and all his problems will go away" Lila suddenly stops walking to Richter and hides behind a chair.

"Hey Yeah!" said Rocky "Come on Richter! Then we can be vampire brothers too!"

"That's really tempting guys, but…"

"Oh come on it won't hurt. You won't feel a thing!" said Cosmo

"Biting people isn't always the answer, guys" Amy said "If that were true_ all_ of Soleanna would have been Cramoisi"

"Actually, to have my teacher as a Cramoisi would be cool!" Jayden added

"Then it's settled. Zeke, come here. Richter can be your first" Tawny said pulling Zeke over to Richter.

"Wait a minute! I don't want to become one. Not now! Other than stopping the criminal underground, There are so many things I life that I haven't gotten to do!"

"Like what?" asked Amy

"Well…" (Richter's imagination: He sees himself singing at an opera dressed as a Viking while holding a note, and everyone one he knows wearing tuxes and dresses, admiring the sound of Richter's singing voice.)

Richter sits in his seat smiling. "Ahhh…Vikings… pirates with horns on their heads" Amy and the other mobians look at Richter with a stale stare.

"Baby!" Tawny comes up to Richter insulting him. "You don't want to get pricked'

"What?" said Richter getting up. "You dare insult him that is me?"

"You're a chicken! Bwak Bwak Bwak! Hi I'm Richter and I like candy and ice cream, but I'm too scared to get a small bite!" Tawny said imitating Richter with a deep caveman accent.

"Ok. First, I don't sound like that, and two I'm no Chicken! You're a blonde loch ness!"

"He does kind of sounds like that" Tails whispered to Cosmo.

"I heard that!"

"You little creep!" Tawny insulted Richter

"Washboard!" Tawny was now mad. She opens her mouth and chomps on Richter's lower arm (his bicep close to your hand) "GGGGGAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Richter screamed in pain. "YOU LITTLE…..."

Richter grabs Tawny by her hair, making her loosen her grip on Richter's arm. Richter picks her up by the leg and spins her in the air. 'WHAAAA! HE"S GOT MEE!" Tawny screamed.

Richter spins her around, but then Tawny flies up and whacks him on the head. Richter then grabs her torso and threw her to the wall. Tawny quickly gets up and charges at him, grabbing him by the arms, and kicking Richter in his lower stomach. Ignoring the intense pain, Richter twists tawny's arm and throws her to the ground, and pounces on her. The two of them were beating on each other, making a cloud of smoke from there little brawl.

"Help! I'm being mugged by a blonde beast!" Richter shouted

"I'm going to rip those smart-ass vocal cords of yours right out of your throat!" Tawny shouted back

"STOP!" shouted Shadow as he walks in between the two. He grabs Richter by his vest and lifts him up, while pushing Tawny back with his foot.

"She bit me! Now I'm going to be a Cramcuzom!"

Shadow pulls Richter up to his face. "You wouldn't be shouting right now if you were changing in to one."

"LET ME AT HIM! I'LL RIP HIM UP! I'LL TEAR HIM UP! I'LL-I'LL GRRRRRRR!" Tawny screamed while foaming at the mouth.

"What? You want some more, Loch ness?"

"GRRRR LET…..ME….GOOOOOOOO!

"Richter" Chrome came in the room "We're minutes away from the Savannah Citadel- what are you doing?"

"Uuuuuuuuuuu nothing?"

"Mmmm, anyway we are minutes away from the Savannah Citadel which means the village isn't too far away." Chrome walks up to the table and sets down an old map. "It's quite interesting really. Apparently, the Gaia gate is inside the Savannah Citadel, which is surrounded by seven different villages. Long ago those villages acted as a barrier to the Citadel, where the villagers protected it from any danger"

"So how did Klaus and his goons get to the gate to draw the dark circle?" Richter takes off his vest, freeing himself from Shadow's grip.

"I surmise that one of the villages was either abounded or perhaps the citizens were dealt with by the criminal lord running the area now, giving Klaus the access he needed. Those villagers wouldn't let a man like Klaus even set foot in the village.

"So which village are we landing nearby?"

"This one" Chrome points to one village that looked bigger than the rest. "Said to be the vanguard of the barrier, it's also Blade's hometown"

"Sweet! So we stop there, stop Gessian, seal the gate, and be back in time for desert! Oh and also, we should take our time. In Mazuri, it's a good place if you want to see some wild life, and the people there are so nice. Also their **fruit stew** is YUMMY!. All kinds of fruit boiled in one big pot, with all the gooey fruit juice!"

"Sounds nasty to me…" Tawny said sticking out her tongue.

"Bite your tongue!" Richter shouted "it is actually quite delicious. And I've had over 50 bowls of the stuff.

"Is there going to be a special sweet treat where ever we go, that you MUST have?" Tawny asked getting down from Shadow.

"Yes, yes there is!"

_**The village of fighters; Mazuri**_

The ship landed in a large clearing, about half a mile away from the village. The large stair case comes down, Richter was the first to jump out wearing a red, green, yellow and black beret. "High gee gee! This place is….HOT!" Richter falls on the ground panting. 'So hot…so…barren…." He grinds his hands on the dirt. 'Hey…you know…the air is hot, but the ground feels nice."

"That, my friend is the work of the mobian settlers here" Blade comes walking down and stretching his arms. "Ahhhh! It's feels good to be back home. I can't wait to see the look on my family's face!"

"Alright, a few of us will go and check out the first village' Chrome stated. "The rest of you can check out the other villages with the Cramoisi. See what you can dig up about Gessian's location.

"My group will check out the east villages" Zenith said with a few of the dusk raiders.

'We'll cover the west" Chrome said "Ready, Mercury?"

"Ready!" Mercury said getting her gear disk

"I'll go too!" Lori said walking to Chrome. "If that's ok with you, Sensei"

"I wouldn't have it any other way" Chrome walks down and gets out his gear, along with Mercury. Lori hops on to Mercury's gear.

"Wow…you're so much more…peppy…" Richter said "Blade and I will take care of the North"

"Meet back at the, southern most village within three hours, understood?"

"Aye, Aye!" said the crew

"Richter!" Lila comes running out of the ship and up to him. "Could i….come with you?"

"Um, sure. Heh heh…why not? I mean, it's better than being on the ship all day right? Let's go people!'

"Right!"

Sonic puts on his cloak and looks up to the sky. The sky was so clear without a cloud in the sky. "Dang, sun is really beaming down…."

"Perhaps we should stay indoors." Said Tails.

"No" Shadow said walking out with a cloak on. "I want to keep my eye on those criminals. I'm going to follow Chrome's group."

"Wait up, Shadow" Rouge comes and follows him, along with Jayden.

"I'll go check on Richter" Sonic said walking down.

"Wait a minute, Sonic!" Amy said. "It's like scorching hot!"

"I'll be fine" Sonic runs up to Amy, to hug and kiss her and runs back down the stairway and runs to catch up to Richter.

"What about the rest of us?" Tails asked from behind.

Amy was silent for a minute before answering. She was thinking about Sonic and the others and seeing if they will be able to endure the hot sun. "We will have to stay behind."

The yellow fox stands their confused. "Are you sure?"

"Don't worry..." Amy walks in and starts to sit down panting. "He is Sonic after all."

"What wrong with you?" Tails then figured it out that she was taking in all the suffering Sonic was going through due to the intense heat. "Oh, no! Wha-what do I do?"

"Humph!" Dwayne comes up to Amy and puts his hand on her head as it starts to emit a dark aura. Amy suddenly feels the dark as if it was a cooling fan. She could feel the dark energy reliving her of the intense sun.

"What are you doing?" Tails asked

"Darkness gives her strength doesn't it? I'm just giving her a sample of my power"

"Whoa…thanks…" Amy said smiling. "This feels so good! I guess under all that bushy fur you're actually kind of sweet"

"Humph! Don't get used to it. I just don't want that blue hedgehog to get upset if anything happened to you. Your _mother _might have my head"

_**Returning to the Savannah **_

Blade, Alice, Lila, and Richter started walking to the village, with Lila and Richter in the back. Richter was nervous at first; he softly swings his hand over to Lila's. Lila looks down and sees his hand and softly grabs it while smiling at him. Richter jumps up at the thought that Lila actually grabbed his hand and looks way while smiling and blushing. Alice and Jazz look back at the two of them and giggle.

"Richter!" Sonic starts running after the others but then stops after being about five feet away from them. He kneels down panting from the intense heat. "I…was going to go…with you"

"Dude! You shouldn't be out here, you'll burn up!" Richter said walking up to him.

"Don't worry" Sonic said "I'll be fine.

"No you won't" Jazz looks around and sees a large plant with leaves. She walks over and starts to make something. After she was finished she comes back, Showing Sonic a large umbrella. She gives it to him and Sonic then starts feeling a cool shade coming from it.

"Man this feels good" he said "Thanks"

"That should do it. Good work Jazz. Now let's go

They all arrive at the village, where they see houses made of clay, and large trees and some villagers walking around or sitting at their houses. One person in particular sees Blade and the others, while carrying jugs of water. He was a teal wolverine wearing brown pants and a white scarf.

"Blade? Is that you?" the wolverine asked while struggling with his jugs of water. Blade runs over and helps with the jugs.

"Hey** Chop**, how've you been?" the two of them put the jugs down next to a house larger than the others.

"Bro!" Chop grabs Blade and hugs him tightly. "Where have you been? Things have been boring without ya. How about helping me with some chores?"

Blade steps back as a sweatdrop rides down his face. "Well…uhhh you see…."

"Yeah yeah we can catch up later. Right now I got some stuff that needs done. Now come on your friends can help us with the harvesting"

"It's harvesting time, already?"

"Yup! Now come over here" Chop leads Blade to large garden that had vegetables everywhere and trees with fruit in them.

"You got to be kidding!" The yard looked to be about half an acre.

"Shouldn't take more than…two hours. **Doctor Ronald P. Michel** developed the growth serum needed to help the Mazuri villagers to survive during the hot summer and cold winter. Come on let's get started."

"Aww man I hate work" Sonic whined

Richter comes up and looks at the vegetables. "This looks like a good time for training, eh Jazz?"

"Wha..OH right!" Jazz walks up and closes her eyes focusing on all the shrubbery around her. She then uses her power to pluck all the fruit and vegetables around them into a large sphere of food.

"Whoa…." Chop, Blade, and Alice went as they look at Jazz lifting the food over to them. But she then accidently drops them all on them and herself.

Everyone comes out of the large pile and they all look at Jazz who gives them a nervous smile. "hee hee…opps…sorry"

Everyone just started laughing.

Moments later all the fruit was gathered into sections and put away. Lila, Alice and Jazz were laying against each other panting next to the barrels and boxes of vegetation, Sonic was sitting under a tree close to the house.

"So" Chop was putting some prouder inside two smoking pipes, while lighting a fire. He gives one pipe to Blade who then puts it in his mouth. "You didn't come here for a normal visit." He sucks in the pipe and then blows smoke out of his nose. "You're wanting to get to the Gaia gate and seal it off?" He continues to suck in the pipe.

"Yes" Blade said doing the same thing. "Oh! Man this is a good flavor. And it's also good that the crops are progressing quite well"

"Enjoy it while it last" Chop said blowing out more smoke. "That's my last good batch."

"But you always have some growing out back" Blade said

"Ever since that criminal lord showed up, We've been lucky to have permission to grow anything, even the veggies and fruit your friend plucked out.

"So you guys have been having issues with criminal lord Gessian?"

"That greedy green pig, as threatened us to give up our land, or else we'll regret it. But his men aren't strong enough to take out our fighters."

"They learned from the best" Blade said nudging his brother with his arm. "But in all seriousness, we'll take care of Gessian for you."

"Thanks, bother." Chop gets up and pats him on the shoulder.

"Hey guys" Richter runs up to the two brothers. I was collecting Intel from the village" Everyone could see beads in his hair in a few extra smaller dreads near his eyes. .

"Whoa, Richter what's with the hair?" Blade asked

"A little girl liked my hair, so she did some work on it. You like it?"

"Uhhh….." both brothers just look at Richter colorful red green and yellow beads.

Sonic walks up looking at Richter. "Wow, that actually looks pretty good on you"

"Blade?" both of then turn around and see a tan wolverine wearing a green blouse and blue jeans walk out while mixing a bowl.

"Ah about time you woke up" Chop said putting down his pipe.

The female's eyes widen as she sees Blade while putting the bowl down and running over to him and hugging Blade. "Blade! It's you! I missed you so much!"

"**Kellie**! I missed you." The two of them look at each other and kiss.

"Whoa!" Jazz gets up looking at the two and then looks at Richter

"**Kellie is Blade's wife**" Richter explained

"Blade is married?"

Kellie breaks form the kiss to look at Richter. "Richter!" She comes up and hugs him. She then turns her head and looks at Alice. "Aww is this Alice? She's gotten so big! Aren't you cute?" Alice giggles as Kellie rubs her head. Kellie then looks at Jazz and Lila. "Oh, and…who…is this?" Kellie turns around at Richter with smile while grabbing Jazz and hugging her. "You didn't tell me you were married too, Richter"

"Wh-what?" Richer and Lila said in unison.

"Isn't this your kid?" Kellie asked letting go of Jazz.

"No! She's my crew me member and student" Richter said in shock

"Then who is this? Another student?" she asked looking at Lila

"She's…a…special friend" Lila looks down while blushing

"And who might you be?" Kellie looks at Sonic.

"Name's Sonic. Sonic the hedgehog!" Sonic said doing his trademark pose.

"Wow, what's with the cloak? Are you Goth?"

"Something like that." Sonic said smirking showing his fangs.

"Oh wow! Are those false teeth? Well anyway, since you're here why don't we all sit down for a bowl of fruit soup?"

"Yes please!" Richter said licking his lips.

"Chop" Everyone turns and sees a villager. "Dr. Michel is missing, and he hasn't been around to help us with the herbs."

"Where did he head off to? Chop asked

"He was headed to the forest but hasn't returned."

"Mmm….I see"

"We'll go look for them" Blade said "Right Richter? Richter?"

"What? Oh right…." Richter was a little sad about not getting any soup. "Fear not people….I'll go rescue your doctor….high gee gee…." Richter said without effort walking away.

"Uhh…the way to the forest is that way" the villager said.

"Right…come on…." They all reach the entrance of the forest.

"Doesn't this lead to the second village?" Richter asked.

"Yeah, the forest is actually the quickest way" Chop said

"Alright, we should be back soon, brother" The raiders walk into the forest.

"They just got here…" Kellie looks down in disappointment

"Are you ok?" Chop looks at Kellie walk back to her home.

"Yeah…I'm fine…"

_**The empty feeling**_

Sonic and the others were walking in the large forest. It was a vast forest with lush green trees and slimy vines hanging down. They could hear the bugs and birds making all kinds of noise. They were all walking down a clear path that was running through the forest. The sun light was peeking out from the tops of the trees, so they could see almost everything.

"How are we supposed to find the doctor?" Jazz asked

"Good question. Huh?" Richter looks ahead and sees a large male lion laying under a large tree trying to get up. There was also a small cub trying to push the log back.

"Oh, that poor thing" Alice said looking at the lion "We got to help it!"

"Yeah come on!" Richter and the others run over to the lion. Sonic was just about to follow when he hears a voice coming from the forest.

"_Stop him…" _

He heard the same innocent girl's voice coming from the forest. He runs in a different direction trying to find the one calling to him.

"_Stop him.."_

Sonic keeps running in the forest looking around, but as he runs deeper and deeper it starts to get darker and darker. He then finds himself in a large clearing, it was very dark but Sonic was still able to see. He takes off his cloak to look around.

"Where are you?" He asked himself while walking deeper in the woods.

Meanwhile, Richter and the others were helping the lion get from under the large fallen tree. The lion was able to wiggle itself free.

"Ohh.." Richter grunts while lowering the large tree.

"How did a tree this healthy fall?" Alice asked while looking at it with her eyes glowing green, she also looks at the lion to make sure it wasn't too hurt.

"This tree…" Jazz touches the tree and closes her eyes. She then turns to Richter with a tear flowing down her cheek.

"What's the matter?" Richter asked as the lion comes over and nudges against Richter. "Whoa..ok ok…you're welcome" the lion has seem to take a liking to everyone around him. The little cub was also purring up against Blade.

"awww..it's saying thank you" Blade said petting the lion cub.

"This tree has been poisoned" Jazz said "The poor thing. In fact, I can feel this same pain in some other parts in the forest. Apparently there have been other trees dying and falling."

"You can feel all of that?" Lila asked

"Well, all the trees that are like in a one mile radius, but I've been feeling this since we entered the forest."

"Now can that be?" Blade asked "The vegetation has been as healthy and strong for as long as I can remember.

"Who knows" As he was petting the lion, Richter plucks out one of his stones and it starts to float in the air. He closes his eyes to focus.

"_Open up your senses. Show me what I wish to see_" Richter opens his eyes that were now glowing orange. Lila's eyes also glow orange. Richter looks around and sees a strong aura in the air.

Alice sniffs the air ad picks up something. "Yeah, Alice can smell it, now that daddy mentions it! Follow Alice!" Alice starts walking forward followed by the others.

The lion looks at Richter as he was running off. He picks up his cub and runs off deeper in the forest.

_**The wrath of Blue **_

Sonic was walking in the shaded forest, looking at the trees. He keeps trying to hear the voice. He then sees another vision orange haired girl. The girl says nothing to Sonic and turns around running.

"Hey, get back here!" Sonic starts chasing after her. These visions, these warnings, what did they all mean? All these thoughts were running through his head. He didn't know why, but he knew something bad was about to happen, and it involved Richter and Chrome somehow, and it wasn't good.

"SONIC!" Sonic turns around and sees Amy and Tails fly over to him. She flies down and hugs Sonic, but Sonic didn't hug back. Amy steps back in confusion. "What's the matter?"

"Amy…" Sonic looks at the pink hedgehog in discontent. "Something terrible is about to happen. "

"How do you know?" Tails asked. "I've...I've never seen you like this before, Sonic. You're always so calm. What's happened to you?"

"I don't know!" Sonic shouted at the two tailed fox. Tails steps back in shock; Sonic then realizes what his did and sighs. "I'm sorry, Tails. I'm just worried about everyone. Shadow has been a worry wart for the longest, but It's like I'm having a tug-of-war composition in my mind, between him being right, or him being overzealous"

Richter and the others arrive at another village. This one was smaller than the last, but this one didn't have anyone in it. The village almost looked abandoned. On their right there was a tree with a gate in it. Inside the tree, there was someone sitting in the ground.

He was old white puma wearing a white coat and black pants. Richter walks up to the puma through the cage. "Are you Dr. Michel?" Richter asked

The puma looks up opening his yellow eyes. "Quick! You must leave! The lizard men have trapped me here, they are planning to destroy this village. You must go!"

"Not going to happen!" Richter tries to pull on the bars but to no avail. "Mmmm…Alice can you break though this?"

"Sure thing!" Alice's body glows gray and her body starts to transform, but she then stops glowing without warning. She then tries again but the same thing happens again. She was panting as she as she tried a third time and lies down. She then opens up her arm witch shows a mechanism of lights and buttons and one screen. She looks at the screen and sighs. "Alice forgot to recharge after the last battle. She can't transform."

"Can you try digging him out?" Blade asked

"Or maybe open the gate with your hammer?" Jazz suggested

"For some reason, the ground doesn't feel right." Richter taps on the ground. "It feels like cold iron…I can't dig through iron. And I can't risk hurting the doc here."

"So what do we do?"

"Richter!" The others could see Dwayne with Scarlet and Malcolm. "What are you doing here?"

"I could as you the same thing" Richter said. "Hey Dwayne, do you think you can break through this thing?"

"Humph, let me see" Dwayne walks up looking at the cage.

((((((((Somewhere else))))))

There was something coming from a distance deep in the forest. A large machine with a man sitting in the chair was hovering over to the same village where two figures were standing on the edge of the machine. They had glowing yellow eyes with black irises. They look back at the man who gives them a nod. "You know what to do"

The figures nod while jumping into the trees of the forest. The man looks to the dark sky with a smile. "Soon, they will all witness the true power of chaos."

(((((((back with the others))))))))

Dwayne had successfully freed the doctor, and helped him out. "Thank you my friends. But you really should be going now!"

"Why? Why are you so worried about us?" Richter asked

"These men…who locked me up….they are evil to the core, and if not stopped, I fear for the villagers. You must leave and warn them."

"Just tell us where they are, and we'll deal with them! Right Sonic?" Richter turns around and looks for the blue hedgehog. "Sonic? Yohoo! Sonic! He must be somewhere, Come on!"

Little that Richter knew, Sonic was already close to same village far away from Richter and the others, however.

"So you caught up with us at last!" Sonic turns around and sees Knuckles with a few more of the Cramoisi, waking in from the same direction. "Where have you been running to hedgehog?"

"Knuckles" Sonic walks up to him with a sincere look on his face. "You need to get everyone back on the ship now."

"What? Why? Are we planning on attacking the raiders?" Tawny asked "Yeah! Then we can take their ship and.."

"TAWNY!" everyone shouted at the ranting blonde girl.

"Sorry…" She said in a rude tone crossing her arms.

"I…I just have a bad feeling, that's all"

"Right….well why don't we…" Suddenly Knuckles sees a hooded figure hopping across the trees. "What the…" It had on a blue hood carrying two swords. "Blue agent"

"Let's go after them!" Tawny said jumping in up in the trees along with a few others.

"Guys wait!" Sonic jumps up in the trees and follows them.

The Blue agent jumps down from the trees and runs off into the forest. Knuckles jumps down and continues to chase him. The two of them reach the village deep in the forest. Knuckles jumps on the agent and brings him to the ground.

"Looks like someone is in a rush!" Knuckles grabs him by the neck.

"Just trying to get as far as I can from you Cramoisi stink!" the agent shouted.

"Big talk for someone who is about to get pummeled" Knuckles lifts his fist ready to punch the agent.

"No" Just before anyone knew it a large group of Blue agents came jumping down circling the Cramoisi. "You won't even be able to move when we are done with you!"

Knuckles suddenly feels something cold and sharp run through his leg. He then kneels down from the intense pain while dropping the agent and holding on to his leg. He could see a trickle of purple blood come out of his leg. "Damn it!" the red echidna cursed

"AHH!" Julie who was behind Knuckles feels the same wound on her leg and keels down.

"You Cramoisi shit get hurt, just because the one you love gets a small cut? HA! This is going to be too easy! Take them down!" the blue agent ordered

Silver and Blaze cover Knuckles and Julie, as for everyone else they started to fight off the blue agents, with their weapons. They were all taken by surprise; all of them were besting the agents in any way possible.

Sonic materializes his sword and runs to fight off the agents, but before he could do anything, he was kicked in the jaw by another blue agent. This blue agent had on a blue and aqua blue robe. (unlike black, blue and green like the other agents)

The agent looks at Sonic, panting like a dog. He was grinning with its purple tongue sticking out. He uncovers his cloak and reveals himself to be a black, purple, and yellow frog with glowing claws for hands.

"What the.." Sonic looks at the awkward frog as it starts hopping.

"WE WE WHATAAAAHHHH!" The frog starts dashing at Sonic with unbelievable speed. Sonic tries to react but before he could even flinch he was punched in the jaw. The frog continues to punch him continuously until they were up at a tree, where the frog was punching Sonic in the gut like a punching bag. Sonic tries to move but the pain was too intense for him to do anything. He then picks up Sonic and tosses him around hitting him on the ground repeatedly, laughing every time he hits Sonic on the ground. . No matter what Sonic tried to do, he was continuously getting beat by this crazy frog. He didn't know why, but he could not fight back; with every hit he gets from the frog he could feel his strength slowly dropping like a rock.

After the frog was done tossing him around, he throws him on the ground and continues to punch him continuously. Sonic feels himself getting weaker and weaker by the second. He had almost zero strength to get up. Suddenly he could feel something cold and wet wrapping around him. He looks up and sees the frog controlling the water around him to wrap Sonic around a large bubble.

"N..nuu noo…why did it have to be…." The frog just smiles and jumps in the bubble with Sonic and swims right at him. He then starts swinging his black claws at Sonic.

Sonic starts screaming in sheer pain as the frog was swimming around with his claws cutting across Sonic's body. Sonic was at his limit; the frog swims behind Sonic. NEEYYAAAHHH!" He lifts his foot and kicks Sonic. "KEEE!"

Sonic was screaming as he was kicked out of the bubble and slams right into a tree. Sonic falls on the ground, bruised and bleeding. The Frog jumps out of the bubble as the bubble burst back to water. He slowly walks over to Sonic with a crazy grin. He brings out his claws ready to finish the job. Sonic looks up with his eyes barely open; he could see some of his Cramoisi siblings struggling to stay alive, some were even on the ground trying to get back up.

"No…." Sonic said struggling. "This….this can't be how…." Everything he hoped to accomplish, everything that everyone was trying to do, was about to be all for naught. Sonic couldn't bring himself to get back up. "Amy…" Sonic felt his vision getting fuzzy. "Tails….Knuckles…..I'm sorry…" The frog steps on Sonic's head and looks at Sonic's shoulders and moves its claws right up to where his neck is. (if he has one)

As the frog was about to decapitate Sonic, the frog feels a sudden chilling breeze.

"Colder than the arctic temperatures, defeat my enemies with your frigid wrath" The frog could see a cold figure blowing a large blizzard through the village. Sonic was able to look up and see that it was Chrome coming up while holding his sword that was blowing an icy cold wind through the village.

"Absolute Zero!" A large sheet of ice covers around almost everywhere, freezing everything in sight. The blue agents that were about to finish some of the Cramoisi were instantly frozen in their tracks, while the Cramoisi were untouched. The frog was slowly freezing up into a sheet of ice, but he somehow breaks free from the ice and hops away from his fallen comrades. For some reason the cold was too much for him.

Jayden runs over to Sonic and helps him up. "Are you Ok?" Jayden asked

"Yeah…" Sonic said in a weak tone but was still able to give him a "thumbs up'.

"Grand earth healer!" Sonic hears a voice come from somewhere suddenly there was a large orange circle appears under everyone. Sonic suddenly starts to feel some of his cuts and bruises instantly heal. He turns to his left and sees Richter with a few of the other dusk raiders and the white puma. Richter had his hands out with his hands also glowing. Sonic then knew that he was the one in charge of the circle. When his hands stop glowing he looks up and smiles.

"Ni How, people!" Richter said smiling.

_**Trusting**_

It was now nightfall; Shadow looks around at the Cramoisi who were still weak from the attacks. Nearly all of them were injured even after being heals. Rouge looks at all of them with worried eyes. She turns to Shadow who was growling with rage.

"Shadow…are you Ok?" Lori asked

"Shadow?" Rouge looks at the black hedgehog who turns around and stomps over to the echidna brothers.

"You Ok, blue boy?" Richter asked after he walked up to the blue hedgehog.

"Man. Am I glad to see you" Sonic answered "Those agents just showed up out of nowhere and ambushed us"

"The shroud found you, again?" Richter asked. "Jezz! Does anyone around here have a tracking device on them or something?"

"I'm looking right at him!" the brothers turn around and see Shadow walking over to Richter and grabbing him by the vest. "This is the second time in the row we nearly escaped with our lives!"

"Hey, hey ,hey!" Richter lifts his hands. "I didn't do anything. None of us did anything"

"Then explain to me where the blue agents came from, now!" Shadow creates an orb of chaos energy from his hand looking at Richter dead in the face.

"Shadow!" Amy shouts at Shadow while grabbing his shoulder. "This has gone too far!"

"Back off!" Shadow swings his hand at Amy pushing her away.

"Shadow! Have you lost your mind?" Sonic pulls Shadow's arm making him face him. "They saved us!"

All the raiders and Cramoisi were staring at the three. Richter just looks down with his bangs covering his eyes.

"Is that what this is about?" Richter asked with a serious tone. "Does Shadow really not trust me and my crew?"

"He said it straight to my face, brother" Chrome said "Shadow has zero trust in us"

"Is that right?" Richter then lifts his hand.

Shadow then feels something push him away, making him let go of Richter. Shadow looks up to Richter who still had his head down. Shadow then looks down and sees a piece of moved earth below his feet.

"I put my full trust in you guys for looking after my crew, because I thought we could fight side by side stopping our greatest enemies, but if you don't feel like we can accomplish that, then maybe we made a mistake letting you guys on our ship."

Shadow's glare starts to loosen after hearing Richter. He figured that he may have pushed it too far, however he wasn't too sure.

"If you feel threated staying on board my ship, with my crew then you guys can leave at any time."

"Richter, hold on" Sonic said walking up to him. Chrome was looking at Mercury who had a worried look on her face. "We do trust you…it's just that…"

"It's just what?" Richter looks at Sonic. "If it's something I did then please….huh?" Richter looks at Toby who was still holding on to the chao.

"Well" The white puma, Dr. Michel walks up Richter and Sonic. "I'm not sure what's going on, but please let us not fight. We still have a matter….**Tobias?** What are you doing here?" The white puma asked a tall dark skinned boy. He was wearing a orange vest and red shirt with a green sash around his waist and a peach headband.

"I go by** Toby** now, Doctor" Toby said walking up to Richter "It's what my…new friends have called me. I was just trying to bring this guy back to his owner" the little chao flies over to Richter while smiling.

"Chao Chao Chao!" the chao said "_I found him! I found him! Solairte! At last! We can begin_!"

"What's he saying?" Sonic asked

"I found him, I found him." Richter translated. He slowly walks over to the chao in an amazed expression. "You've been looking of me…and my brother"

"_Yes! YES! He can understand me! Now I can fulfill my duty_."

"We're not done here!" Shadow shouted at the two

"Shadow?" Knuckles, who was still weak from the attack, limps over to him. "Shut up already"

"Richter, who's this?" Chrome walks up looking at the Chao who smiles looking at the two.

Richter doesn't answer to his brother. Everyone around him sees him remove his left glove. Sonic and the others look at Richter's left arm covered in a metal strap that when from his hand all the way to his shoulder, like a spider web. Chrome looks at Richter in shock as he slowly removes the metal strap from his arm.

"Richter! Stop! What are you doing?" Sonic and Shadow look in question due to Chorme's reaction.

Richter looks at Shadow and Sonic. "There is something that Chrome and I have been hiding from all of you. But once this is over, I will explain everything"

"What do you mean, Richter?" Sonic asked.

"Chrome" Richter said softly truing over to his brother smiling. "Soon, all of our inner pain…will be over"

"What?" Chrome was still confused

"_Now, just close your eyes….and relax. Oh mistress will be so happy after this!_" the chao closes his eyes and a small ray of orange and blue lights come down on the brother's heads. They could feel the energy; it was so soothing and calming, like being over a warm water waterfall in a breezy forest. The surroundings were perfect, and the atmosphere was intoxicating. Everyone stares in amazement when they look at the two brothers, still wondering what was going on.

Just in a flash, the tranquil moment gone when the Chao instantly gets shot by a ball of lighting. Richter and Chrome see the little Chao struggling to get up. Richter looks around to see who would do such a thing. From the shadows came two lizards both hearing leather jackets and jeans.

Toby and Lori look in shock and run over to the chao "Are you ok?" Lori picks up the chao.

"Chao, Chao Chao" the chao said weakly. "_Misstress…..for…give…me…"_

"You monster! How could you do this?" Toby touches his forehead and gets out a flute that turns into a spear and starts running at the lizards while yelling a battle cry. The lizard just smiles and jumps up in the air and runs his hand through Toby's shoulder piercing through it. Toby gasped while stepping back in pain. The lizard then kicks him in the chest all the way to a tree. He shouts in immense pain while falling down. Lori runs up to him seeing if he was alright.

Lori feels her heart drop as she saw Toby bleeding from the stab. Fortunately, it wasn't a vital part, but Toby was still bleeding uncontrollably. "Oh my god!" She sets the chao down to tend to Toby.

The lizards slowly walk around letting out an irritating laugh. Richter looks at the metal strap on the ground and tries to get it back. But then it was instantly snatched by the green lizard. "No, no, no." the lizard said shaking his finger while dangling it. "We don't want you to be messing with this now would we?"

"No!" Chrome whispered under his breath

"G-give it back!" Richter demanded. He could feel his stones glowing brightly.

"Why? Would I do that?" the lizard asked while twisting in in his hands making Richter jump in shock. He then turns over to the Cramoisi. "Why don't you come and summon that hammer of yours and swipe it from me?" Sonic and the others see Richter just standing their growing. "What's the matter? Can't do it **Exrrtich**?"

"Exrr-who?" Sonic asked

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Richter said quickly

"Don't you?" the lizard laughs evilly

Chrome looks at the lizards in shock. "Why wait to tell them your secret? What's stopping you from telling it now?" The brown lizard asked Chrome. "I'm sure your "hired help" should know about how you've been tricking them this whole time"

"What?" most of the Cramoisi said in shock

"You're speaking nonsense" Chrome said up to the lizard. "I'm not tricking them."

"Sonic…" Amy whispers to the blue hedgehog. "Let's get that lizard already!"

"Before you attack me, Cramoisi, don't you want to know more about your so-called rogues?" the lizard starts walking around while feeling around Richter who was just standing still. "Oh, I have so much to say about him."

"As do I!" the other lizard comes up to Shadow. "You have the right for your suspicion, hedgehog." The lizard puts his hands on Shadow's shoulders.

"Ugh!" Shadow steps back in a fighting stance.

"Don't do this….don't do this please" Richter whispered.

"Why not, **Empty son**? EE HEE HEE HEE HA HA HA HA!" The lizards stand there laughing and sticking their tongues out hissing.

The brown lizard crawls over and Chrome while putting his hands on his shoulder. "You should also know that this poor fool was using you all along."

"What are you saying?" Shadow asked the lizard.

"Hee hee hee hee!" The Lizard hugs Chrome's face; Chrome does nothing but feel the lizards ice cold scales.

_**Distress Call **_

All the way back in Soleanna, Darcy and Zerach were in the throne room sitting on their thrones. Darcy was reading a book with a pair of hands holding an apple. "How can these people be vampires and not have wings?" Darcy asked herself. "And their attire, it is a mockery in the name of pure darkness"

"Vampire's without wings?" asked Zerach while looking at a cell phone.

"Mortals are so strange" Darcy then throws the book at a pile of other books, and starts messing with an I-paw.

"Oh yes, but you should really try this so called "video game". This technology is astonishing! A little black box that carries light and the little icons move around when I move my finger! Right now I'm playing a game where I am tossing these little birds around at little green pigs."

"Little birds? How can mortals be cruel?"

"Oh, Daniel told me they aren't real. And earlier I was looking into something called a book where they show your face" Imagine how we can stay in contact with our allies with this spider web.

"Rouge once told me that the web didn't have spiders in it. Now is that so?" Darcy had Richter's focus stone made into a necklace. "Maybe Tails can explain it to us again when he gets…." Suddenly Darcy can feel a strange heat coming from the stone. She grunts in pain feeling the stone.

"Something troubles you, my queen of Darkness?" Zerach asked putting the phone down.

Darcy puts the book down while grasping the stone. "My brilliant guardian…..i…I feel a great disturbance."

"Mmmm….I also sense that something is out of line myself. It seems or knights are losing faith in the radiant dark manifest. This is most troubling. It seems that Shadow's faith is diminishing, swiftly. If he loses faith, he won't stand a chance against any dark heart."

"I realize that, Zerach. But there is something else. I feel as if our new friends are being threatened in some way. Though I cannot make it clear, I feel as if something terrible is about to happen.

_**Solarite's True Inner Demon.**_

Everyone was looking at the Lizards and the echidna brothers and wondering why they were not moving while they were being taunted. Both brothers stand their motionless, trying not to move.

"This fool isn't even a real captain. He's a conniving little devil who will depose of you when he's done with you." The brown lizard said about Chrome.

"And this one, is just a blood thirsty killer!" the green Lizard said about Richter "Oh yes." He was still twilling around the metal strap. "I can feel it all. Your sadness, bitter rage, and hate for me. Don't you feel it brother?"

"Oh it's like a soothing bath feeling all of Chrome's anger and hate! I love it!"

"You know Richter, Dante' is very upset with you and your brother. Why have you forsaken your role as the greatest criminal in the world? Oh how your father would be laughing at you right now. Rather sad"

"And you Chrome, still have bitter hate for the man responsible for your mother's death?" Chrome gasped as he looks up at the lizard that was instantly up at his face. He picks him up and throws him away from Richter and the others, and jumps in front of him. "What if I said I was the one who killed her?" He then quickly takes Chrome's sword right from his sash.

"Give..that….back…" Chrome said slowly as an icy cold wind starts to blow around him.

"Oh…you want it? Hee hee hee hee"

"Why aren't they fighting back?" Amy asked

"Blade, what's going on? Blade?" Jazz tried to get Blade's attention but he was still looking at Richter who was clenching is fist as if he was holding something back.

Shadow looks at Chrome who was also growling while the icy wind starts to pick up.

"Oh, yes!" The brown lizard said. "Those were the very same eyes that she gave me during her final minutes."

"YOU!" Ice starts to form around Chrome's feet. Mercury looks at the focus stone that was given to her and feels a sharp pain.

"Oh do tell them how this whole dusk raider madness is just a scam to kill the underground and avenge your dead mother. Oh how I adored her screams of horror as I personally sent her to hell!" Chrome wanted to do something but for some reason he just couldn't move. "What wrong? You want Mommy's sword? Come get it." Chrome just looks at the lizard as he unsheathes the sword and licks it with its long tongue.

"The greatest criminal in the world, reduced to being a school teacher, and taxi driver. You use to be a cold hearted criminal who would slaughter anyone who would dare stand in your way, Exrrtich the empty son" A few of the people around them each other quiet murmurs.

"Stop it already!" Richter shouted desperately.

"They don't know, do they? That's ok; I'll tell them for you." Richter's eyes widen in shock. He wants to do something, but something was holding him back "You see, raiders and Cramoisi, long ago Richter here used to work for Eggman Nega as a top class mercenary" Sonic and a few others gasp. "Oh, what kind of crimes did he commit you ask? Murders, pillaging, destruction, utter Chaos." Richter knelt down while growing as if he were in sheer pain.

"And Chrome here worked for a group known as the **Red brotherhood**" The brown lizard said. "It seems you're mother's death has given the mafia a great edge. Chrome here was a cold blooded mercenary who would go around and commit crimes, that is punishable by death!"

"Stop this, right now!" Dwayne shouted to the lizards "You have no idea of the consequences that your actions will lead!"

The Cramoisi wanted to do something about those lizards, but most of them were still hurt by the Nith metal blades from the blue agents. Some others were also trying to hear what the lizards were saying.

"Stop? Oh but this is just the tip of the iceberg" the lizard shows everyone a little doll that had a red stain on it. He walks over to Sonic and gives it to him. Richter looks at the doll and his eyes widen. "Why don't you take a whiff of this?"

Sonic takes the doll and smells it. He felt his heart sank as he could smell that the doll had the scent of blood. "This, this blood….it was still considered young and pure."

"Right." The green lizard said. "Heh heh heh heh! Oh doesn't just smell lovely?"

"Stop this, right now!" Richter demanded "I'm warning you!"

"Ah, Ah, Ah….watch that rage. Where was i? Oh yes! That doll belonged to a little girl in a little place called** Red canyon Zone**, the very zone that Richter destroyed, ten years ago…by his own hand!"

"What?" Sonic said backing away. "Richter, tell me he's kidding! Richter?" Richter didn't move he just stood their growing with his body glowing orange.

"Guess he has nothing to say. Oh well, heh heh heh….."

Chrome was panting with his head hanging down. It was getting colder and colder. Could it be true that the one that killed his mother be standing right in front of him? He looks up the Lizard in sheer rage. "Did…you….did you really kill her?"

"Yesssssss…." The brown lizard said with his tongue flipping out of its mouth. "Her blood tasted delightful!"

Sonic felt something corseting through him. It was like a serious evil wind blowing in the air giving him the chills. He was thinking that this could be that horrible feeling he felt earlier. He thought there was something going, but now he was seeing it firsthand.

"There is one thing good that came out of all this" The green lizard said.

"What's that brother?" the brown Lizard asked

The lizards eyes were now completely yellow with no pupils. Richter then has a flash back of people running and screaming in a village that was on fire and running away from a large orange liquid crawling monster.

"**Agony! Pain! Sorrow! Rage! Furry! Fear! All negative emotions stirred up in one setting with no glimmer of light, or sight of happiness to be found!" **The lizards quickly come over to Richer and Chrome and whispers in their ears.** "Oh, I wish I was there to listen to all of them breathe their last breath, screaming and running for their lives!**

"**Your mother would be so upset with you. Using people to avenge her delightful death. Oh I enjoyed killing her, just as much as we are having this lovely chat. Heee heee. **

The brown Lizard holds Chrome's sword right in front of him and holds it by the blade. **"These memories, these happy thoughts, you think of all of them while holding this sword. How stupid! It's a joke! Nothing but pure garbage. Let this be a lesson to you, Chrome Solairte. You're memories of your pitiful mother are the reason why you will never be worthy of holding this sword! **The blade emits a sudden flash and the brown lizard pushes it against his knee shattering it in half.

"Ahhhh…." Chrome stands there with his eyes and his mouth wide open. "Mother…." He slowly sees the shards of the sword scatter on the ground, and then the actual blade that was now split in two. Chrome just looks down as the icy wind gets stronger and stronger to where it was freezing everything in sight.

Richter stands their as the earth begins to rumble staring down, with the green lizard up to his face.

**When you killed those dammed souls…you made my heart sing….their damned lives…their cries of sorrow…we owe everything to you….Richter Solairte" **

"**NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" **Richter and Chrome scream at the top of their lungs as their bodies were glowing with incomprehensible rage.

"**STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!" **Richter repeated over and over at the green lizard

"**I'll DESTROY YOU!" **Chrome shouted at the brown lizard as he stands while smiling

Both brothers: "**!"**

Both lizards start laughing like madman. Lila and Mercury suddenly start screaming out of control. The focus stones on their necks were glowing brightly.

"Sonic what's happening?" Amy asked as the earth was rumbling and the icy winds were blowing.

"I don't know!" Sonic answered back

_**(((((Back at the castle))))) **_

Darcy was screaming and rolling in pain with tears rolling down her cheeks. Zerach was also feeling immense pain as well. Like all Cramoisi they can feel the pain of their lover. He was doing the best he can to ignore the pain and tend to her aid. "Darcy! What's wrong!"

"Somehow….I…I feel *pant* *pain* I can feel Richter's emotions! He's in serious pain! Zerach!" Darcy looks at Zerach with tears continuously flowing down her cheeks. "We have to help him!" She said with her voice breaking up.

Zerach nods and walks up in front of Darcy. He takes a deep breath and shouts making a Cramoisi bloody cry instantly summoning all the Cramoisi who live in the castle to order. "We leave to assist your brethren, no questions asked!"

"Yes father!" said the Cramoisi children

_**The destructive earth; Rise of the Subterranean Fiend **_

Both echidna brothers were screaming in sheer pain. Two separate beams of orange and blue shoot from both of them all the way to the sky, making the clouds swirl in a twister formation. Lila was screaming and falling to the ground holding.

"Lila! What's wrong?" Jazz kneels down to her.

"It…it hurts! My body hurts so bad! AHHHHHH!" She screamed while rolling in pain.

"The focus stone that Richter gave her is tied to his soul! Blade answered. "She can feel everything Richter is feeling right now!"

"Daddy…" Alice looks at her suffering father with tears in her eyes feeling completely helpless.

"This can't be" Rin-Rin stares at Richter, and couldn't look away.

"AHHH! I can't take it anymore!" Malcolm changes his arm to a gun and looks at the cackling lizard, but in an instant he appears before the Raiders and puts up a large pink shield. Malcolm tries to blast everyone free but to no avail. Blade tries to ram the bubble but ends up getting shocked in the process.

"**Not yet, the party has just begun!"** the lizard said laughing while getting out a glass orange tube. From the forest came more lizards with different weapons. They all surround the raiders that were still in the shield. **"Now…come forth from the depths of the earth's core and destroy everything!**"

Both lizards open their tubes, and two different large gelatinous masses come out of the tubes. Everyone looks at the mass, one was blue and the other was orange. Both of them go for the echidna brothers and coil around them

The mass of orange liquid comes out and moves at Richter with top speed. The mass raps around Richter consuming his body as he was still screaming. Everyone could see the mass growing into a large beast.

Sonic looks at the beast and suddenly gets a flash back of all his past dreams that had the same look as that mass.

The mass forms into a large salamander like body with four large legs and feet, with a long tail and an even longer neck, and a head that almost looked like Chaos only it had two horns pointed upward and had orange teeth. When the transformation was done, it was a large forty five foot long beast that was thirty feet tall.

"**RRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"** it lets out a terrifying roar while opening its eyes that looked exactly like Richter's. Everyone could see Richter inside the monstrosity with his eyes wide open with no pupils.

"No…" Dwayne looks at the monster with wide eyes. "This can't be happing!"

Both masses had turned into two large separate liquid monsters that were radiating visible energy that was all over their bodies, with both echidna brothers in separate monsters.

"**Oh but it is**!" the green lizard grabs the inhibitor and twists it till it breaks to pieces. "**Behold Cramoisi and raiders! The true form of the bearers of the** **eighth emerald and the might of the raging sun**; **Geo Chaos!" **

""Eight emerald? What's he talking about?" Knuckles asked

The green Lizard jumps on the monster's back. "**Now Geo Chaos, let us merge together and destroy the seven tribes! It's in your nature, let it out! Let them feel the pain of a thousand Damnations!" WHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"**

"This is not good!" Dwayne said

"Oh, gee you think?" Malcolm asked in a sarcastic tone.

Dwayne then grabs Malcolm by his scarf "If we don't stop that lizard from merging with Richter, not only will there be no stopping it, but Richter will be gone! Forever!"

The monster was stomping around wreaking everything in its path. It was storming through the village roaring and stomping while destroying the buildings.

"Well what do you want me to do?" Malcolm shouted back. "We tried breaking out of this damn bubble! If you have some idea to break out, I've _loved_ to hear it!"

"Enough!" Dr. Michel shouted moving his stick between them. "You're not going to get anything done fighting!"

"Richter…" Lila was lying on the ground still feeling the pain while crying. She didn't know what to do, she felt completely helpless. Everyone looks at the orange beast as it continues its senseless rampage.

All she did was run to the edge of the bubble banging on it and feeling a shock with every time she touched it. "Richter! Richter! Richter!" She was shouting his name over and over, banging and banging feeling the pain of the recoil from the bubble. She then kneels down burying her face in the ground crying loudly. "Please! Please!" She pointlessly pleaded. "I don't want to lose him! Please! Someone! Anyone! Please! Help him!"

"_You're pathetic…"_

Lila still had her face in the ground. Suddenly her body starts glowing orange. She stands up while balling her fist. She then looks at the bubble and gives it one more punch yelling at the top of her lungs and shattering the bubble to pieces. Everyone could see Lila breaking the bubble like it was nothing. Her body then stops glowing and she falls to the ground with her eyes barely opened. She gets one last look at the monster before closing her eyes. "Rich….ter…."

"Everyone charge!" Blade shouted.

Jazz runs up to Lila trying to tend to her, but she was stopped by Dr. Michel. "I'll tend to her, child. You go help your friends!"

"But!" Jazz tried to argue

"The lives of many are at stake if something isn't done about that creature! Now go!"

"Right!" Jazz summons her weapon and joins the others in fighting off the lizards.

_**The Thorn of Darkness**_

The leading green lizard was still standing on the monster as it was destroying the village. **" WHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! YES YES! We are meant for each other! Destruction shall be our comrade as we destroy everything in this continent, and the next one! Soon, the world will be devoured in utter chaos! WAH HA HA HA HA HA…Eh?" **

The lizard turns around slowly and sees a pair of glowing ruby violet eyes. It was Darcy staring at the lizard, mad beyond reason while holding his wrist.

"Chaos Control!" Darcy and the lizard warp off the beast and somewhere else in the forest away from the destruction.

"**What the hell are you doing!"** the lizard scolded. He was trying to break free but Darcy's grip was too strong. "**Damn it! Let go, bitch! What's wrong, too dumb to do as you're told? I said let go!" **The lizard takes out a knife and stabs Darcy with it. Darcy still holds on to the wrist without flinching**. "AHH! DAMN IT!"** He continues to stab Darcy in multiple places. He then stabs her one more time leaving the knife inside her and getting out a gun and shooting her head. Darcy then gasped in pain, and falls on the ground. The lizard forces her to let go, by prying her fingers off his wrist. He then scoffs at Darcy while blasting her a few more times with his gun, watching her blood flow away from her body.

"**Let that be a lesson to you, bitch! Don't get in my frekien way!" **He turns around and start to walk off, but then he feels something grab his ankle. **"What the..?** He looks down and doesn't sees something red and black wrap around his ankle. "Damn it all!" He tries to pull free but whatever was holding on wouldn't let go. Instead, the grip was getting tighter and tighter till he could hear the bones crack. He then shouts in pain as he feels his ankle twist and fall apart. He looks at Darcy's body that was still laying down not moving.

Out of nowhere he sees something come out of the ground. The lizard was shock to see it was a mobian with glowing red eyes and a pale white body slowly walking over to him. He then sees another body come out of the ground with the same pale body and glowing eyes.

"**Get back! Back I say!"** the lizard gets out his gun and shoots at them, but the bullets go right through the two people. He then sees more and more spirits come out from the ground slowly walking to the lizard moaning. But what then scares him even more is that he could hear a childish giggle. He looks down and sees a little girl ghost with a little doll crawl over to him. **"AHHHH!"** He falls on the ground and backs away from the spirits. The lizard then hears more giggling, but this time it was coming from Darcy's body. The lizard turns at the body and sees Darcy slowly rise up and turn her head to him**. "Wha..what?"** he couldn't see Darcy's face, but he could see her slowly get up with blood dripping all over her body. He could hear her giggling while holding her shoulders. **"You..You…you should be dead!"**

"Hee hee hee hee hee heh heh" Darcy giggled while smiling at the lizard. "Oh, what's wrong? Are you scared?" Darcy giggles again while lifting her hair revealing her smiling, bloody face. "Do you see these souls before you? They are the souls of people Richter killed, wandering this earth aimlessly and feeling pain." The lizard could see Darcy's blood flowing over to him, moving like it was alive. The blood moves under the lizard; from the blood came out bloody hands that hold the lizard's ankles and wrist. "All they all feel so much pain." He lizard then looks at the spirits who were all carrying black shadow swords. "So..much…pain…" The all come in front of the lizard swinging their swords and slowly cutting him up. He was screaming in pain, getting hit each time not being able to move. "Do you feel it? This is their pain. This is _Richter's _pain! You wanted to become the one with the ultimate beast, and now you will pay the price." Darcy stands there looking at the lizard giggling.

"**LET ME GO! LET ME GOOO!"** he begged. **"please! It hurts! Stop!"** he was begging while crying real tears.

"Ahhhh" Darcy sighs happily "You know a wonderful thing about being one with Darkness? When my enemy displays sadness, fear and rage, it only makes me stronger. You're foolish to think you know how to use misery to your advantage." The spirits continue to cut up the lizard as he continues to scream in pain. "A demon like you, afraid, scared, crying? " AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Oh that is truly intriguing, considering that you monsters cause and crave it so vigorously. But now, you are practically at my mercy. You're darkness is born from evil and hate. But my darkness, and the darkness I deliver was made for a special purpose;

She comes up and looks at the lizard's tear broken face with a smile. _We will devour all of you; you will one of the first in over three millennia to witness the true wrath of darkness as you pay for both yours and his evil crimes_!"

Darcy then stares down at him with a narrow stare_. "Feel his pain."_ He could see Darcy's body change into a black shadow figure._ "Feel it every day for eternity. It won't be only his pain. It shall be yours forever and ever" _ Her body then dissolves in a shadow below her.

The lizard sees a large black wolf with red eyes come from blow the shadow, and holds down the lizard. The shadow wolf opens his mouth in front of the wolf howling a loud and terrifying roar. The lizard was screaming at the top of his lungs at the horror that stands in front of him.

"_The swords of these lost souls will pry your body forever!"_ The wolf starts eating and ripping the lizard piece by piece, as the lizard was still screaming. _"You will suffer his punishment!"_ The wolf's teeth was grinding and breaking against the lizards bones; it's tongue was licking the blood that was splattered everywhere_. "There will be no light left for you. You will experience this nightmare over and over."_ The black shadow wolf finishes off the lizard eating the scraps left over.

"_And ….no one will hear your cries for help_"

_**Blast to the past**_

The wolf looks down on the ground and sees a large spattered puddle of blood blow her feet. The spirits then start to vanish, turning into blue flams that ascend to the air. The wolf then slowly changes into another shadow figure that then turns back to Darcy. She then stretches her limbs while yawning.

"My goodness" Darcy looks down at the blood smiling. "That was a tad uncomfortable. I've been locked up too long"

She turns around and could see the large beast still rampaging across the forest. "Richter…."

She then touches her chest as that was emitting a black aura. She suddenly pulls out a large black thorn from out of her chest. The thorn was emitting a dark aura. "At last, it's ready"

"Mother!" Sonic runs over to Darcy. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Sonic." Darcy looks at Sonic smiling with no cuts or gashes on her.

"Wow" Sonic looks at the large puddle and back at Darcy. "Did you turn him into a zombie too?"

"Oh no" Darcy laughed. "I was just awfully hungry. Come along, Sonic. We have work to do."

"Right!" Sonic said following her

They look at the large orange beast that was stomping around destroying everything in it'[s path.

"I can't believe it…." Sonic said staring at the beast. "All those dreams were trying to tell me something….and I didn't understand it….but now I see…" Sonic could hear the monster's roar. "That monster was Richter all along."

"Sonic" Darcy looks at Sonic while holding a purple gem. "Do not be fooled by the mouth of evil. Do you hear him cry? That is Richter's voice you hear from that monster" Sonic hears it roar again while breathing fire down in the forest. "That monster was created by his anger and pain. He needs you Sonic." Darcy touches the thorn with the chaos emerald making it glow purple. Sonic looks at the emerald as it jolts out black electricity. "Take it"

Sonic takes the emerald, but looks at Darcy "I've fought this beast before….but…I need all seven Chaos Emeralds"

"Concentrate, Sonic" Darcy looks into his eyes. "Can you not feel it, the chaos energy coursing through the air? My power will grant you all the strength you need. You must let that be your guide, and use the power to free Richter."

Sonic looks at the purple chaos emerald and back at Darcy. He then nods and closes his eyes.

Sonic's body starts to glow dark blue. His body then instantly changes to a darker pale of blue. He then summons his sword and shield that turn into two blades that were both blue and black. His eyes were now red, as he looks at Darcy who was smiling. He then turns to a large crater where the monster was standing. "Now, may you cleanse the evil of this world, and ease the pain and agony of others; **Dark Super Sonic!" **

**(Note: Sonic is now Dark Sonic . The power of the darkness enhanced Chaos emerald has given him an old and familiar power he developed in the past, only instead of fuelled by hate, he is fuelled with righteous furry, but only for a short time. Will it be long enough? Let's fine out!)**

Sonic spreads his wings and flies at the monster. "Richter….hang on!"

_**((((((Super Boss battle: Geo Chaos))))))**_

_**The monster was rampaging through the town then stops while stomping on the ground leveling the area.**_

"Sonic" Darcy speaks to him in his mind. "That monster is sampling Richter's elements of both earth and fire. To disable the body, you must go for the head if you ever had a chance and defeating it.

Sonic starts flying at the large beast. The monster looks at Sonic and stomps the ground shooting stalagmites from the ground at Sonic. Sonic does his best to avoid the rocks and goes straight for the head. Then the monster inhales deeply and breathes fire at Sonic. Sonic puts up his sword and slashes right through the fire blast. Sonic was up to the beast staring at it, as it lets out a powerful roar. Inside he can see Richter looking down soullessly not responding at all with his arms spread out. The monster lifts it head while roaring as many hammers appear around it. As it stares at Sonic the hammers start flying right at him. Sonic uses that to his advantage and bounces on the hammers getting to the monsters head and swinging at a pink core on its head making break it's body into multiple parts that fall in the earth, leaving Richter .

"Did I do it?" Sonic looks at Richter who looks back and summons two large hammers and runs right at him. When both of their weapons collide, Sonic stares into Richter's soulless eyes. Richter then jumps back and summons twenty hammers that surround him. In an instant they all light on fire and he throws them at Sonic. As Richter was throwing the hammers more were appearing and catching on fire surrounding Richter. Sonic quickly dodges all the flaming hammers and swings his sword at Richter. Richter blocks the attack with his wall of hammers and pushes them at Sonic pushing him back. Sonic regains traction and charges at Richter again. Richter then lifts his hands and a large quantity of Rocks come from the ground and charge at Sonic with great speed. Sonic does his best to avoid them but instantly gets blown back into a wreaked building. Sonic slowly gets back up and sees the large liquid monster come up from the earth and form around Richter again and back to its normal form.

"Sonic, as long as that monster stays alive, it will continue to manipulate Richter's body." The monster starts to stomp its feet on the ground lifting more rocks from the ground and breathing more fire. Sonic was flying around dogging more attacks. He knows its Richter, but he was having a constant struggle in his mind thinking if Richter really wants to come back to normal. Everyone he made friends with knows about his past now. Has he really accepted the path of a villain? He thought. But, he couldn't worry about that now. More hammers appear around the beast and come at Sonic. Sonic creates a black shield, deflecting the hammers and throwing them back at the beast. The hammers hit the body and absorb inside it. The monster turns it head looking at Sonic and tries to eat him. Sonic flies back avoiding its rock like jaws. Sonic creates a ball of dark energy from his hand and throws it at the monster making it swing its head back. Sonic sees his chance. As the monster was stunned by the attack, Sonic flies at the head and swings his sword from the sky that unleashes a powerful slash made from Darkness splitting the monster in half. The monsters body breaks down again and its parts dive into the earth.

"Come on Richter!" Sonic calls to his friend. "I know you're not this kind of person!" Richter doesn't respond and looks at Sonic while jumping at him with two hammers in his hand. He was swinging them at Sonic rapidly trying to bring him down. He was like a mindless robot set on kill mode as he was trying to hit Sonic in vital places. Sonic flies back and swings his two swords at Richter who blocks them with his hammers. After being pushed back, Sonic flies back at Richter and swings his sword downward that unleashes a ray of darkness and hits Richter sending him down back to the ground. Richter lands of his feet and looks at Sonic who was still flying. He then summons one large hammer made of pure energy and throws it at Sonic. This time Sonic gets hit and is sent even higher in the air. Richter uses the earth to lift to the sky on a rock and summons more hammers to throw it Sonic. He then throws them and manages to hit Sonic with at least five of his hammers. Sonic was still able to fly at Richter and swing his sword at him. "Richter! Remember all the good stuff you did for us. You saved us from Grapple, and helped us defeat Klaus and his minions. Remember the kind, caring and goofy side of you!"

"S-S-S-Sonnniiiccc…" Richter managed to say. Sonic smiles when he is able to get through to him, but it then turns to a frown when he hears his next words. "K-k-k-kill me…..p-please.." He then falls to the ground and the liquid monster forms around him again.

Sonic looks down at the beast with a narrow stair. "That's not going to happen, buddy" Sonic then screams letting out a burst of both darkness and chaos energy. He holds his two swords as they glow even brighter. "I'm going to snap you out of it!" He flies down and supersonic speed swinging his sword at the body trying to free Richter. The monster was made of liquid so he was slashing at it like a large gelatin mold. But to no avail; the liquid reforms around the parts Sonic cut up. The monster looks up at Sonic and breathes fire at him. Sonic dives right in the fire and straight into its mouth. He was able to move around in the liquid body. He goes for the pink core on its head and hits it from the inside. Somehow the monster was able to melt into a large orange puddle. Sonic flies back in the sky and sees the large orange pool that forms into the monster again.

"Richter…." Sonic floats their growling in rage. He could feel his body glowing dark blue.

"Sonic" Darcy speaks to Sonic in his mind. "Remember, you must free him from his pain. All your hate and rage pointed at those lizards, and those who wish the destruction of your friends, burn inside, and unleash it on the beast.

"But, mother….that means I would have to…"

"It's the only way, Sonic. Without his body, the monster will be destroyed."

"No..I can't! Please!"

Sonic could hear the roars of the beast getting louder and louder as it continues destroying everything around him. "Free him…from his pain"

Sonic looks at Richter's body in the monster still not moving. Tears then from in his eyes and he flies up higher in the sky. His body starts bursting with black and blue energy.

"This is it!" Sonic said. Sonic's body was emitting a dark aura, and he shoots down like a comet The monster lets out a might roar, and lava comes out form the ground along with flaming rocks that come from under the lava that come at Sonic. Sonic flies around dodging all the rocks as the fly up further in the sky. But then the rocks fall down from the sky and go for Sonic again. He knew he had to strike now. He flies down at the monster with unbelievable power. The meteors come hurling down with great velocity, but he was still able to avoid them even without seeing them. "Burn from deep space; Dark comet!" Sonic shoots down on the monster's body and goes straight for Richter, like a falling star that burns through the liquid body. He then points one of his swords at Richter and stabs it in his chest.

Sonic then hears a blood curtailing scream, as he flies out of the liquid beast.

The monster lets out another roar as its mouth leaks out smoke. All the lava turns to rock as it's body begins to melt down into a large orange pool. Sonic looks back at the monster as it was melting down. When it's body was now a large puddle Richter comes out of the body and falls to the ground. …..It was all over.

_**((((((Super Boss battle: Boss defeated)))))**_

_**Sonic flies down in his super form and slowly turns back to normal while putting the stones back in his gauntlet. **_

_**Sonic: I'm sorry…..Richter.**_

_**Monster**_

Sonic could hear thunder rumbling as rain falls from the sky. His body turns back to normal as, he looks at the crater were the monster stood and flies down, with Amy behind him. They both see Richter lying on the ground not moving. Sonic flies over and picks him up and flies him out of the crater and over to Darcy.

Dwayne and Malcolm look at the four and walk up to them. Dr. Michel was watching Lila. Lila slowly gets up and sees her hands wrapped in bandages. "What happened?"

"Rest, my dear" the Doctor said "You had quite a shock"

"Richter!" Lila gets up and looks for him.

"W-Wiat! You aren't fully healed yet!"

Lila runs over to Richter who was not moving. "No….please…no no no no…."

Darcy looks at Richter's chest that had a large but not deep gash in it. "You've done it Sonic. Well done."

"How can you say that?" Sonic said "I just….I just…k…"

"Remember what I said, about the mouth of evil? What you see now, is the veil uncovered, and what you see now, is his true self. And right now you see the very same echidna you met not too long ago"

The raiders and some Cramoisi walk up to Richter looking down. Lila then starts weeping quietly with her eyes closed. "huh?"

She then hears Richter grunting in pain slowly waking up. He looks up at them with his eyes back to normal but his pupils were wide open. Sonic reaches out his hand to help him up. Richter grabs the hand and gets back up. Sonic smiles while looking at him, but Richter didn't smile back.

Richter then kneels down and makes a small stalagmite come up from the ground. "Sonic…." He said softly and taking the stalagmite and giving it to him. It was about the same size as a dagger. "You're a Cramoisi…you kill black hearts….well….now you know the real me….so…I think you know what to do with this…."

Lila and a few others gasped hearing Richter's somber voice.

Sonic scoffs at him while shaking his head. "What?"

"Destroy me, and this curse will be lifted. The chao was going to free me and my brother, help us gain control. But now I understand….I'm not worthy for the name Solairte…." Richter puts the rock in Sonic's hand and moves it to his chest. "Go on….i don't want to be a part of the world if I'm destined to destroy it"

"Richter" Sonic throws the stone down. "It wasn't your fault, you were manipulated by that lizard. You're not a real criminal. You're a good guy. So you went out of control big deal, that's no reason for me to…"

"Open your eyes, Sonic!" Richter bellowed with his head down. "You saw what my bother and i did! You know what we are capable of! And you know what kind of person I was years ago; a cold hearted murderer!" Richter started sobbing while shaking. "I could have killed my crew mates, my students, and my own daughter. I could have killed everyone. Just like before…..all those people…those innocent lives. They were living happy and peaceful and then I had to go and destroy them al!" Richter kneels down and slams his fist on the ground. "I don't care how you do it, bite me, stab me….just put an end to me now! I don't deserve to live! I'm no different from Dante' or Eggman Nega. I'm a monster! A damn monster!"

"No" Lila comes up to Richter and hugs him from behind. Richter grabs Lila's hands and tries to get her to let go but she still holds on. "Let me tell you something, Richter Solairte. If you chose to have yourself killed now, I'll never forgive you. You have too many people who care about you to leave behind. What will your daughter do? What will your friends do? What will your students your chao and your family do without you?"

Some of the raiders walk up to Richter. Before she got to him, Jazz looks down and picks up a black rock. "What's this"

"One of captain's focus stones" Rin-Rin said in a soft tone. "The vibrant glow on the stones comes from Richter and Chrome's emotions. Their stones are bright like the sun when they are happy, but now…" Rin-Rin's eyes start to well up. "As the stones lose their luster, the captain's spirits are now crushed.

"Captain…" Jazz sees Rin-Rin quietly weeping. She herself starts to cry also. "I'm so sorry….I should have been stronger….I should have fought when I had the chance!" The two of them hug each other and weep. Marine also starts crying while hugging Scarlet.

Lila was still holding on to Richter not letting go. "Everyone you made contact with and let them board your ship, you've done so much for. It doesn't matter what you did. It doesn't matter who you were. It's what good you've done for your friends and family. And the good things you'll do in the future, what you'll do for our future. Don't you understand, Richter? I was wrong, all this time I thought all men were evil, and had no respect for women at all. But you, you showed me that not all men are like that. Because of you, I'm here right now. And you showed me many good things in this world. Lila pulls on Richter's arm, trying to help him stand up.

Richter slowly stands up looking at Lila smiling. "I love you, Richter Solairte."

Richter feels another woman hug both he and Lila. Alice had changed into her adult form hugging the two of them. "Daddy…don't leave me. Because of you, I'm here now, if you died, I don't know what I'd do. I love you so much!"

(note: Alice speaks in first person when in her grown up form)

"Captain" Rin-Rin walks up to Richter. "You accepted me in the crew, despite that I'm forgetful and not very focused, You'd said you'd help me become a strong fighter. How can you do that if your…your…" Rin-Rin couldn't finish the sentence. Not because she forgot, but because she was doing her best not to cry.

"Richter" Jazz walks up with her hand on her chest. "Ever since my home was destroyed six months ago, you were one of the few people who were nice to me, and took me in and made me a part of your family. I don't know what I would do with myself if you were killed. You've been like a crazy, funny older brother to me.

"You have a responsibility to watch over us" Jem and Nai walk over to Richter. Jem was wiping her face from her tears. "If you think you can just slip away from that, you're dead wrong!"

"Don't even think you can leave us just because you got mad" Nai was also weeping while holding Jem. "You are supposed to be Mr. tough guy!"

"We need our captain Richer" Malcolm said coming up and patting his shoulder "You've been a good pal to me for almost a whole decade. I ain't letting you carelessly burry yourself six feet under before your time."

"Those lizard men were ass-holes!" Scarlet comes up and pecks Richter's forehead. "And you don't deserve to die. You've been an exclent mentor to me, and taught me so much. Don't think your leaving this world on my watch.

"That goes for me to!" Marine comes up to Richter and clenches her fist. "I want to take over as captain of the dusk raiders, but not if it means you dying. When I take it I want you to be right there by my side to be my first mate! Plus who else is going to help me master my element?

"Everyone…." Richter looks at everyone still feeling down. "I…I don't know what to say…." He then starts sobbing again. "You would still stick by me, even after learning about my horrible past?"

"None of us care what you were" Lila said. "It's what you've done for us, the crew mates and Cramoisi. Because of you, we are one more than just friends, we're family, Richter." Lila pulls Richter to her face and kisses him. After a short time they broke. Richter looks at her as she smiled, but Richter still didn't even smirk.

"Lila…." He said softly. "I love you too. I'm sorry….but…it still don't feel right. I need some time…to think"

Sonic and Amy look at the raiders comforting Richter. "Sonic…do you see Richter now?"

"Yeah…." Sonic said softly. "I can finally reed what kind of heart he is now.

"You have quite a talent for freeing people from pain" Darcy smiles while looking down.

"Yeah, he has a talent for that" Amy said boastingly.

Darcy comes up to Richter and feels his face. "Oh Richter…" She slowly pulls him into her chest. "You poor, poor child. Losing a family member is one thing, to feel pain and sorrow for destroying lives as well, that is too much to bear" Richter looks up to Darcy's face. Darcy smiles while looking in his eyes. Richter could feel his mind at ease looking in Darcy's eyes. "Lost child, let your peaceful thoughts give you a calm mind. "

She then leans to Richter's shoulder. Everyone gasped when they saw what Darcy was about to do. Darcy moves his shirt revealing his bare shoulder and bites it. Richter was shocked as Darcy was drinking his blood. His eyes were shaking as felt his blood being sucked out, and a dark aura shrouds him as Darcy continues to drink his blood. When she was finished, she pulls herself from Richter. Richter touches his shoulder and still felt Darcy's bite marks.

"What…what did you do to me?" Richter asked in a weak tone.

"Mother…she...bit...Richter?" Amy was too lost for words.

Darcy then bites her arm and draws blood from it. "Richter….come here and drink" She lifts her arm in front of Richter.

"Drink?" Richter steps back "N-no..I don't..i can't look at that…."

"Worry no my child" Darcy looks at Richter one more time, "come and drink."

Richter's eyes start glowing as he slowly walks to Darcy and grabs her arm. Everyone was too shocked as the look at Richter put his lips on Darcy's arm and drinks from it. Darcy then slowly pulls Richter away. He was panting with Darcy's blood tricking down his mouth.

"Rest now, Richter" Darcy's eyes were glowing Richter looks in to them and falls on his knees and on the ground. Everyone was silent as they look at Richter lying on the ground.

"What….what did you do to him?" Lila asked as she looks down at Richter who was sleeping with two bite marks on his shoulder.

"Gerheart" A large male Cramoisi appears behind, Darcy. She turns around looking at his face. "Could you please bring Richter back to his room. He needs his rest, the poor dear.

He nods and walks over and picks up Richter.

"I'll…I'll lead you there" Jazz said walking up to the young blonde man and leading him back to the ship with the others. Darcy looks at the group with a smile.

"Such an honest and loyal crew. I am honored to be in the presence of such dedicated crew members."

"Excuse me" Darcy turns to Sonic, Lila and Alice. "W-what did you do to Richter? Is…did..you…"

"Did you turn my father into a Cramoisi?" Alice asked sinisterly.

Darcy looks down with a smile "I drank from a fountain of pain and sorrow, and he the medicine of inner pains in the heart. It is his decision if he wants to be one of us or not. When he wakes up I wish to talk with him. I never had a chance to know him. If it's is fine with you?"

"Uhhh" Alice was confused at first but then nods. "Yes….you can talk with him"

"Thank you. Now let us hurry and check on your father" Darcy starts walking back to the ship with the others.

Sonic looks forward and tilts his head in thought. "What did mother, do?"

"Richter…" Lila looks at Darcy walk away.

She then feels Alice hug her, and rub her face against hers. "Daddy will be fine. Don't feel bad, Mommy you should be strong for daddy"

"Alice…I…" Lila was feeling a bit uneasy hearing what Alice just called her, but she didn't mind. She hugs back. "Yes, I'll be strong for him. I promise.

_**Water under the bridge**_

Darcy looks at the raiders walking back to the ship with some of the other Cramoisi. She could also see Sonic and Shadow walk over to Dwayne and Ryan.

"So he shattered the inhibitor?" Ryan asked Dwayne

"Yeah" Dwayne said with his arms crossed. "And because of that, their power was awakened."

"Who would be crazy enough, to create another liquid life form to destroy the world?"

"What are you two talking about" Sonic asked walking up to the two. "What was that creature? How did Richter and Chrome turn into monsters? Who are they and what-"

"Just shut up!" Dwayne shouted "It's already hard enough to think without all your questions!"

"Why you…" Shadow glares at Dwayne getting in a fighting position.

"Ahem!" Ryan walks in front of Shadow clearing his throat. "As you two are trying to put on a show, we've got a dilemma that needs observing.

"Quite right" Zerach says walking up with Darcy. "You do owe us an explanation, gentlemen."

"Fair enough. Come. We will explain everything once we get on the ship. "Ryan leads Dwayne, Sonic, Darcy and Zerach. Back to the ship, but Shadow stays behind looking at them leave."

"Are you ok, Shadow?" Rouge asked holding his shoulder.

"I'm not sure" Shadow was still confused, about everything that has happened. He looks down in though as he walks away from the others. Rouge follows him feeling deep concern.

_**Finding the truth**_

After the rain stops, Shadow was walking in the savannah. He looks at the crescent moon glowing in the sky.

"Shadow!" Rouge shouts running over to the black hedgehog.

"Not now, Rouge. I'm…"

"No" Rouge runs up to his face "Don't pull that lone wolf act on me again. We are in this together. We promised each other that!"

Shadow was about to respond but then he hears a loud boom. "Now what?"

Both of them run deeper in the savannah and see two people fighting. One of them was the silver wolf and the other one was a white and blue hedgehog. The hedgehog was flying in the sky shooting out white energy blast from his hand. This didn't faze the silver wolf one bit; he simply reacts by swinging his sword at the energy balls defecting them back at the hedgehog. The hedgehog dodges his attack and charges right at the silver wolf.

"*sigh*" The wolf sighs and lifts his hand. From the ground came a group of steel stalagmites that trap the hedgehog, making him unable to move. The wolf walks up to the struggling hedgehog, while making a sword appear out of red energy. "Don't look surprised. You never stood a chance"

"You!" Shadow runs up to the wolf and the trapped hedgehog.

"_That black hedgehog again, of all places" _ the wolf said in his mind "You didn't heed my warning"

"How did you know what would happen?" Shadow asked "The exen of earth, he's Richter isn't he? Was he the one you told us not to bring here?"

"Boy! Some military soldier you are!" the blue and white hedgehog said. "You don't even know the highest criminals out there in the world"

"Nazo!" Shadow turns around and sees a black hedgehog that looked just like him, only he was a she.

"Fear…" Shadow looks at the hedgehog.

"Oh…it's you" She said coldly.

"What are you doing here?"

Nazo disappears and reappears out of the steel stalagmites. "_I _ was looking for Richter to get my rematch, until this joker showed up and interrupted my hunt!"

"That's your own fault" Nero replies "You shouldn't pick fights you have no chance at winning"

"You punk!" Nazo starts to create another ball of energy from his hand.

"Stop it!" Fear comes in between the two. "You came for Richter, not him."

"You're wasting your time." Nero turns away. "Even if you did pick a fight with him, losing would be the least of your worries."

"What do you know about Richter? Are you friends with him?"

"Never met the guy. I know _of_ him. And I also know that he and his brother came close to destroying everything in this continent."

"Could you please tell us about him?" Rouge asked trying to be polite. "Were they really trying to destroy everything?"

Nero turns around facing the others and crossing his arms. "Those brothers are not trying to destroy anyone, except for our boss. The boss of the criminal underground."

"What? What do you mean?"

"That's not good enough" Shadow said coming up to Nero's face. "I want you both to tell me everything you know about Solairte. Don't leave out anything."

"And if I refuse, what will you do, kill me?" Nero asked back as Shadow responds with a grunt. Nero reaches in his pocket to look at a pocket watch with a heart shaped picture in it. "Fine. I don't know much about Richter, but I will tell you what I know. I got some spare time anyway. Question is, when I finish talking about him, will you still accept both brothers for who they are?"

(((((((TBC))))))))

I'm going to stop here. Told you this would be long! Too long even for me, but that's what happens in such a special chap such as this!"

This chapter has too much in it….can you take it? I can't hear yoooou

So, what's Nero got to say to Shadow? Is Richter now a Cramoisi? What has happened to our heroes…..

Keep reading RD to find out what happens to Sonic and his friends!

Sonic: Messed up visions, Crazy frogs that attack you, and large liquid monsters. You'd think a guy like me would be calm and cool at times like this, but I've never been more obvious in my life. Mother won't say much, just more bogus riddles. I don't know what she did to Richter though. What I really want to know is what's going on with Richter and Chrome. Just who exactly were those lizards, and why did those monsters fuse with those echidna brothers?

Next time: Villages under siege; a shade of red

Sonic: When will we ever get a day off?

((((((PROFILE UPDATE)))))))))


	13. Villages under siege Awaken the Blood

You guys waited and waited well now your wait is over! Here's the next chapter of the story! Words cannot say how sorry I am for not posting this sooner, collage can be a real BEAST!

Now fair warning, this chap is Loooooooooong so you may want to get you a snack or something while you read. Not only that, but this chap contains intense violence, suggestive themes, and blood. It contains so much action, violence, terror, and crazy as hell-ness, that those of you with weak constitutions, may want to grab someone to hold on too….eh! You'll be fine! I mean come on how many of you younger readers haven't read a mature story on this site? Not that this story is mature or anything…but it may be getting there and…

Richter: SHUT UP ALREADY! I want to know what happened!

Other characters: YEAH!

Wow….ok…..well…show them the story.

No SEGA chars belong to me. And other fan characters are either mine or someone else's. We work hard on these characters so don't steal them!

_Previously: Sonic was having more strange dreams about children playing hide and seek. Meanwhile on their way, many confessions were made, including where Alice came from, and Richter's true feelings about Lila. When they arrived into the city, Sonic and Richter learn of a vegetation shortage going on the village. During their investigation, Sonic once again sees the mysterious red head girl giving him eccentric warnings. Ignoring the warnings Sonic and the other Cramoisi find their way to a village where they had a run in with the shroud, and a powerful frog like mobian who bested Sonic. Just in the nick of time Chrome and Richter come and save them, but only to be hounded by Shadow who was accusing them of treachery. Upset, Richter was second guessing about his alliance with the Cramoisi. Everyone then notices a little chao who tried to do things for Richter and Chrome. Things get from bad to worse when two lizards show up and tell everyone the "truth" about the Solairte brothers. For some reason, this drove Richter and Chrome with uncontrollable rage. To make matters worse, the lizards released these liquid creatures that take control of Richter and Chrome's bodies. When it all seemed over, Darcy shows up seizing the mad lizards control over the large chaos creature, but the creature was still out of control. Darcy powers up a chaos emerald with a mysterious black thorn and gives it to Sonic ; Sonic goes Dark Super and defeats the massive chaos beast freeing Richter. Feeling even more depressed, Richter begs Sonic to kill him, telling him he was a monster. Lila and the other orange sun dusk raiders do their best to comfort him, but he was still feeling down. Darcy sympathized Richter and embraced him in her arms. She then bites Richter on the neck drinking some of his blood; She then tells Richter to drink some of her blood. After consuming the blood Darcy puts Richter to sleep, and now the Cramoisi and dusk raiders head back to the ship to regroup. Meanwhile, Shadow goes out on his own and runs into Nazo and Nero fighting. Curious to his knowledge on the Solairtes Shadow, demands Nero to tell him what was really going on….. _

The crew and Cramoisi finally arrive at the ship. Upon arrival everyone could see a large heard of lions all around the ship. Sonic and Amy just look at the lions looking at them.

"Should…we be concerned?" Amy asked

"Let's just keep moving" Sonic said "They won't attack us if we don't attack them"

"That only works with bees, Sonic. " Tails said as they all walk forward.

"Oh…" Sonic had a little sweat drop come down his face.

_**Chapter 13 **_

_**Villages under siege; a shade of orange**_

_**The golden harness; the day of hell's wake**_

Shadow was in the savannah with Rouge, Fear, Nazo and Nero. Shadow was still staring and Nero who was staring back at him.

"Start talking" Shadow said straight. "What do you know about the Solairte family?"

Nero just closes his eyes. "Don't bark orders at me. It's unbecoming."

Shadow growls at Nero while raising his fist. "Shadow" Shadow looks at Fear who shakes her head. Shadow just scoffs and looks away.

"Anyway" Nero uncovers his sleeve, reveling a large machine gauntlet. He starts pushing some buttons while looking at the device. "**The day of hell's wake**"

"What?" Both Shadow and Rouge said as they saw a cluster of holographic images and screens pop up around them.

"About ten years ago, there was horrible incident at Red Canyon Zone." The silver wolf explained as the screens were showing images and texts of the incident. "Where a force of raw energy was awakened that caused an eruption that destroyed the village, and a **pyroclastic surge*** killed the townspeople along with it.

(*basically a large black cloud of death that spews out of a volcano during an eruption)

"So…it wasn't Richter who killed them?" Rouge said.

"He the one who started it" Nero stated. "His power combined with machine created a liquid monster that started slaughtering lives, mindlessly, and caused a volcanic eruption that was below the village. The magma ejected from the ground along with the toxic gases finishing off the people of the town. Funny thing, the village is still standing, but it's now in ruins."

Shadow was looking at the screens while stroking his chin.

"So, what triggered the power inside the brothers?" Rouge asked

A holographic keyboard appears in front of Nero. "According to criminal records, this was the very same spot where **Rizen Richter Solairte** made his last stand." He stops typing and shows everyone a picture of an orange echidna.

"Richter?"

"No. That's Rizen. He was captain of the dusk raiders, and Richter's father. " Nazo explained. The picture of the echidna had on a long red trench coat brown pants and black boots. Unlike Richter's bangs his were spiked up instead of drooping down.

"That's his father?"

"He was also a leader of the grand mafia. But he stepped down and became the Exen of earth. " Nero explained.

"Too much stress, to run a circus of criminals?" Shadow asked

"No. He had a family"

"He was feared by all and a grand geomancer and blah, blah, blah. Rumor also has it that he was a steel user just like supercomputer over here" Nazo points at Nero.

"Flattered" Nero said pulling more screens into view. "He was the strongest there is, but during his last fight with the Robian Empire he was overpowered, and finished off. And you have this person to blame." Nero shows the others a picture of a balled man with olive lab coat and a blue button up shirt and black pants.

"Who's that?" Rouge asked

"**Dr. Ernest G. Ziggfreed**" Nazo answered "One of the leading Robian generals lead by Dr. Eggman Nega. Also a researcher for the chaos emeralds"

"Correct" Nero confirmed while showing more pictures of his work.

"He was the one who engineered the Artificial Chaos Beast that could use the power of the chaos emeralds destructive power." Fear mentioned "These were scientific facts that he stole from the database of Professor Gerald Robotinik!"

"What?!" Shadow jumps at the very mention of that name.

"The Solairte family has a huge connection to the chaos emeralds, and would have been the perfect candidate for Ziggfreed's research. However, when Rizen wouldn't corporate, Ziggfreed wanted to take the emeralds power from himself, so he killed Rizen and found out that his son had the power in him all along." Nero continued "And once the chaos power in Richter was unlocked, Ziggfreed saw his chance and used a prototype of the artificial chaos to fuse with Richter and destroy the village.

"And now he used brand new monsters to try and destroy even more villages" Nazo laughed. "It would have worked too, if you guys weren't"

"So, how does Richter and Chrome both have chaos power inside them?" Shadow asked

Nero just looks down and closes his gauntlet, causing the screens to disappear. "That…I do not know. Perhaps they have a chaos emerald inside them"

"That's impossible…that would mean there would have to be an…"

"**Eight chaos emerald**…" Fear finished

"That's ridiculous." Shadow didn't believe what he was hearing.

""All I know is the power is destructive" Nero continued. "It's driven by negative emotion that could cause mass destruction as you've already seen."

"Wow…" Rouge said.

"You knew this would happen." Shadow said pointing at Nero.

"Oh, putting the pieces together are we? That's why I told you stay away. I thought I made myself clear"

Shadow glares at Nero after hearing him talk. 'Watch your mouth!"

"If you had that kind of attitude with the brothers you could have stop this from happing."

"All I did was try to was stop them!"

"Did you tell them about my warning, or did you just jump on them like criminals?"

"I…" Shadow looks down feeling a bit of guilt. Neither he nor Sonic told them about the encounted they had with Nero or the mysterious hooded man.

"Just as I thought. You said absolutely nothing about leaving the village, nor did you tell them about my warning. You and Sonic kept it from everyone. Face it, the destruction of the village is your fault as well as it was the brothers.

Shadow was extremely angry with him now. His hands start to glow red looking at Nero who was just staring back at him.

"Shadow stop it!" Rouge walks in front of him trying to stop him. "Don't you think you've picked enough fights today?"

Shadow looks at Rouge who had shaking eyes. He looks at Nero who was just staring at him. He then scoffs and turns away.

"Fortunately, there were no deaths this time" Nero added "So you shouldn't feel too upset about your blunder"

"If you two lovebirds are done talking, there's more you should know. Dr. Ziggfreed is one of Dr. Eggman Nega's robian generals" Nazo explained "They wanted the power of Solairte that was sealed in the brothers. He came close when he made Richter his henchman, but could not find Chrome."

"So…he did work for Nega." Shadow looks at Nazo as he nods back.

"Only after he lost recollection of everything and everyone he knew." Nero added. "He became a dark figure known as the **Exrrtich the empty**, whose yellow eyes with white pupils and black attire would strike fear in the hearts of many."

"How do you know all this?" Shadow asked "How do you know so much about those brothers?"

"Shhh…no spoilers, Shadsy" Nazo said putting his finger on his lip.

"Don't call me that!" Shadow scowled.

"Wow…you _are _her brother!" Nazo said laughing at how mad shadow was getting.

"Well there you have it" Nero said turning around. "Since the exen of Earth power is stable and despite of your failed efforts to stop him, there's no need for me to be here now."

"Wait!" Rouge shouts to the silver wolf. "What do you want from Richter and Chrome? And why do…"

"That doesn't concern you" Nero interrupted. "I told you what I knew about Solairte, and that's all I know. Rather you accept it or not I really don't care." He gets out an extreme gear disk and throws it on the ground and it turns into a board type gear. He gets on and looks back at the group. "If you want to learn more about what's under the veil of the mafia, come to **Megalo Station**.""

"The robian city" Rouge stated

"That is when you will meet the other **ten exen**, during the **world Ex grand prix** and you're more likely to run into the **boss of the Mafia** "

"Heh…what a shocker…" Nazo said crossing his arms.

"If any of you get in my way again, I won't be so generous next time, farewell" Nero takes to the sky flying out of sight with his gear.

((((On the Terra Sunset)))

Darcy was walking in the halls looking around. She was looking at the black thorn in her hand.

"I can hear you…." She said under her breath. "I wish for you to guide him….bring light to his dark times, and awaken what has been lost.

"WAIT!"

"Mmmm?" Darcy turns around and sees Alice running over to her with a gold arm brace in her tail. She looks at Darcy with face of worry. "Uh…..I'm not sure what you're going to do to Daddy, but if you could…." Alice gives Darcy the golden brace. It was a new inhibatdor that looked similar to his old one, only it was gold with shining stones on it. "I made this for him…in case his old one was destroyed….please...could you give it to him?"

Darcy looks at the inhibador and back at Alice. She then smiles while holding her hand.

"Richter is lucky to have a daughter like you." Darcy said to her. "Don't worry, I will give it to him."

"Thank you" Alice said while bowing her head with tears in her eyes. She then turns around and runs while covering her face.

Darcy sort of frowns a bit seeing her run off. "Poor dear…" she turns around and makes her way to Richter's room.

Zerach was walking his way to Chrome's room while looking at the marble of light. He could feel a wisp of wind blowing around. "I feel you….shine light…bring forth the one hidden in the white shadows.

The winds start to blow even harder around him.

"You will not sawed me. You will look after him. You must awaken him from the inside"

The harsh winds continue to blow.

"I believe that he is the knight you've been looking for. I order you to do as you are told; bring him out."

The winds around him stop blowing. Zerach looks around and nods. "You will not regret my choice. The knight will be brought back.

((((back with the others))))

Back with Shadow and Rouge they were looking at the sky after Nero had left

"What a grouch" Rouge puts her hands on her hip. "But at least his info was useful" Shadow stares in the sky seeing the gear slowly fade from his sight"

"I don't care if he is an exen!" Nazo said cracking his knuckles "Next time we meet, I'm going to mop the floor with him!"

"If he's the same caliber as Richter, you don't stand a chance" Shadow said coldly. "Richter was the one who mopped the floor with you, twice"

Fear and Rouge gigged after hearing Shadow. Nazo just stands their growling.

"Fear" Rouge looks at Fear who stops laughing. "What are you doing here? Are you here to…"

"No" Fear answered "I'm not here to fight Shadow. I've been tricked!"

"What are you talking about" Shadow then sees Fear walk up to him and grab his hand while softly putting her hand on it.

"Listen Shadow, Klaus has been tracking you." Fear said with a soft voice

"How?"

"After they woke me from stasis, Klaus took a sample of my DNA so they can track you, and I could find you." Fear takes out a small device from her pocket. "it's also…how Nazo is able to find Richter."

"And it worked!" Nazo said triumphantly. "Now I can find Richter easily thanks to that thing."

"So Klaus has the same tracker." Rouge concluded. "That's how they keep finding us!"

"It…It's my fault" Shadow steps back in astonishment. All this time he thought it was Richter or Chrome, siding with the enemy. "Everything is my fault….the village. Klaus finding us…..what I've I done?"

"It's not all your fault Shadow" Rouge said

"Ehh, some of it might be" Nazo said giggling.

"She's right" Fear agrees. "If I didn't buy **Commander Tower's** lame story, they would have never taken my DNA. So I'm also to blame too. I should have listened to your side of the story, and I was too foolish and blinded by rage to even think about asking you"

"Eh..runs in the family" Rouge laughed.

"Can you….ever forgive me, Shadow?"

Everyone was quiet for a minute. Both siblings looked at each other. Shadow then speaks. "I'm sorry" Shadow said. "I can't remember having a sister or even a brother for that matter."

Fear then steps back "What? But..why? What more proof do you need?"

"It's not that" Rouge said "Shadow lost his memory a while back, so he doesn't remember much about his life on the ARK. "

"I see" Fear turns away from Shadow. "I'm not crazy you know. I am your sister, and nothing will change that."

"I know" Shadow said back. "Scorch told me. In fact he wanted to talk with you."

Fear looks back at Shadow and stares into his eyes. "I…I need to get some facts straight. If everything Klaus told me was a lie, then what happened to Maria?"

"She was killed by G.U.N soldiers over 50 years ago. Many of the people in ARK were killed as well."

"You mean….I've been helping the same people who killed her?!" Fear falls on the ground on her knees while looking on the ground.

"Well…not the _same _ people, but the same organization. I mean Shadow also was an agent" Rouge mentioned "He was one of the best agents G.U.N had. At least…until they became associated with Klaus, and he became a Cramoisi."

"I can't believe this. How could you help the very people who killed our sister?!"

"I cared about her too, Fear. But nothing will change the past. All we can do is look to the future"

"Humph!" Fear stands in front of Shadow with her arms crossed.

"Fear, we could use your help" Rouge mentioned "If we don't stop Klaus the entire world could be in danger"

"HA! Not our problem" Nazo said crossing his arms moving in front of Rouge. "We have better things to do other than help you fanged freaks"

"I can tell you this" Fear said looking at both Shadow and Rouge. "I'm not siding with the shroud, but I can't just abandon the thought of Maria, even after my brother tells me to."

"What will you do now?" Shadow asked having concern in his voice.

"Don't worry about me" Fear takes out a green gem that was glowing. "I still want to learn more about what happened to our family. Even if it means going back to G.U.N"

"Alright" Shadow nods at Fear as she does the same. "Good luck"

Fear looks at the two giving them a smirk. "I'm also not too sure about the whole "Cramoisi" thing, but I can say that I trust your choice. I hope to see you again, only fighting on the same side"

"I hope so too" Shadow also slightly smiled at Fear too.

"Can we go now?" Nazo said holding on to Fear's arm. "If I'm not going to have a powerful foe to beat, I'm going to go nuts"

"Fine, fine, you wild child!" Fear lifts up the emerald as she gives Shadow one last look. "And Shadow, watch over Scorch. I want to see you both again." Both Nazo and Fear start to glow green "Chaos Control!" The two of them warp out of sight.

"Shadow…." Rouge looks at Shadow who was looking at where fear stood.

"So…Richter wasn't the real killer after all. And if Klaus has made an alliance with the mafia…."

"Does this mean what I think it means?" Rouge asked "Could the brothers really be…."

"The others have to know" Shadow turns back to Rouge.

"But what about the Shroud?"

"Let's head back, before they find us again."

"Ok then!" Rouge gets out a glowing red gem and shows it in front of Shadow.

"A..an emerald! Where did you…"

"Apparently, Richter has four of the seven chaos emeralds already, so I just took one in case we needed it." Rouge smiles and winks at Shadow. "This old gal has still got it"

Shadow looks down and smiles. He then walks over and holds on to the emerald. "Chaos control!"

They both warp out of sight.

_**Do you trust us? **_

"So there you have it. Happy?" Dwayne said crossing his arms.

Back on the Terra sunset the Cramoisi and Dusk raiders were listening into what both Ryan and Dwayne had to say about the truth of why Richter and Chrome where in the criminal underground. The room went silent of what seemed like hours. Everyone had leaned the truth about the echidna brothers. Zerach walks up to the raiders and bowed his head.

"Thank you, for telling us" he said

""Yes thank you so much" Darcy said

"Madame Darcy" Mercury walks up to the purple bat. "I…I really hope this doesn't change your decision on helping us. With your help, we can put an end to Mafia's suffering. Please. "Mercury looks down and closes her eyes. "I…we don't want more innocent lives destroyed."

"You're kidding, right Merc?" Sonic said patting her shoulder smiling. "That's like asking Knuckles if he can get any more gullible"

"HEY!" Knuckles growls at Sonic as Sonic stood there and laughed.

"Sure we'll help!" Amy said smiling "But from now on, no more secrets. We want to know more about you guys. I think that's why Shadow acted the way he did, because he was scared or something"

"Fair enough" mercury smiles while nodding.

"So…what do we do now?" Knuckles asked Sonic "How about finding out about that** frog** that was tossing you around like a sack of potatoes?"

"**Frog?" ** Zerach asked stroking his chin. "What frog?"

"It was some crazed frog that came out of nowhere with the shroud." Amy explaned

"He was beating the tar out of him!" Knuckles added

"By any chance was he a blue frog with purple and black stripes?" Zerach asked

"That's the one! He creamed Sonic good!"

"Not funny!" Sonic said crossing his arms still upset about losing to the frog. "That frog was like something off….."

"Sounds like** Limrana (Lim-ran-a)**" Darcy said sighing. "Of all Marcoats to come back…."

"That frog was a Marcoat?!"

"And one of the most dangerous among them all." Zerach explained "Limrana will attack anything that moves, even his own agents. "

"Yikes. So how are we going to find him and the criminal lord who's in charge?"

"Yeah! Ow!" Knuckles kneels down holding his knee.

"You children are in no condition to fight" Darcy said

"Then let us go, mother" Daniel said "We are more than ready"

"You won't stand a chance against Giessan and his men." Dwayne said coldly "He and his men are high level fighters that even the two captains will have difficulty fighting."

"I don't believe that"

"Believe what he says." Everyone turns and sees Shadow and Rouge walk into the room.

"Shadow, you're back" Sonic pointed out "Where've you been?"

"Somewhere" Shadow said coldly "As much as I hate to say it, I agree with fang-face over there" He points at Dwayne "If we are going to strike those criminals we need to regroup for now and think of a plan and to approach the situation carefully"

"I think that is an excellent idea, Shadow" Zerach said smiling.

"Well we can't just stand here!" Said Amy "Those people need us."

"No, their right" Sonic said in a distraught tone. "We'll do more harm than good if chose to fight now."

"Fine" Knuckles sits down crossing his arms. "but I won't like it."

Blade gets up from his chair, looking at the raiders. "Alright, for now, all you raiders will turn in for tonight."

"Hold on. Who died and put you in charge?" Zenith asked

"Zenith" Mercury looks at her brother. "Just do as he says. When both captains aren't present he and I are in charge. "

"Well I'm going to check on our captains and see for myself"

"I don't think so" Darcy said instantly standing in front of Zenith.

"And why not?" Zenith stands up looking at the purple bat.

"Those two have been through enough, give them some time to themselves."

"Yeah…well I'm just going to take a peak and check…on…." Zenith was staring into Darcy's glowing eyes.

"You will let them sleep, Zenith" Darcy said one more time.

Zenith stands there as his eyes glow the same as Darcy's. "Alright, I don't like it. But fine, I won't disturb them. "

"Good" Zenith sits down looking down with a blank expression.

"Hey...what did you…" Mercury looks at Zenith who gives her a creepy smile. She then feels a chill run up her spine.

"Dusk raiders" Darcy looks at the raiders with a smile. Mercury turns and looks at Darcy "I am happy to learn that even in the darkest of shadows a light shines bright. And right now, you dusk raiders are that light. I've only seen a handful of mortals who would display such loyalty to their leaders"

"Uhh…thanks" Mercury said a little nervous. "What will you do now?"

"For now" Darcy reaches in her cap and gets out the purple chaos emerald. "We will return home."

Moments later, the Cramoisi were outside of the ship with Mercury and Blade.

"So, we can stay?" Sonic asked Darcy

"Of course, was that not your intent; to fight with the dusk raiders to prevent dark gaia from resurrecting?"

"Oh..heh heh…yeah"

"Alright!" A white rabbit comes up to the other Cramoisi. "We are heading out!"

"Yes we are, Damian" Zerach said "but you will be staying here with your brethren"

"What?" Damian steps back in surprise.

"And I am not the only one who thinks so."

"Iris…right of course. It's just that I thought I was needed…"

"Do not get me wrong, your actions are most appreciated, but there is no reason for you to stay at the castle right now my boy, now your presence is needed here."

"I understand, thank you father" Damien said smiling

"Sonic, Shadow" Darcy looks at the two hedgehogs "Before I go I want to give you something" Darcy hold out her hand and in an instant two glowing amber and red gems appear in front of her. "You two have once again exceeded my expectations. For that, I grant you another gift. Please take it"

Both jemas float over to the hedgehogs and attach to their gauntlets.

Sonic looks at his gauntlet as the design slowly changes, to a black gauntlet with red and amber highlights. "Cool! So what does it do?"

Darcy smiles and jumps in the sky and flies upward. "You will find that out during your next upcoming battle, child. For now I must take my leave. " The other cramoisi walk into one group as Darcy and Zerach hold their chaos emeralds. "Chaos control!" the large group instantly disappears, leaving Sonic and the others.

"I hate it when she does that" Sonic said sighing.

"I heard that" Sonic jumps when he hears Darcy voice in his head

Toby came walking out of the ship holding his weapon in hand. He looks at Sonic and the others. "Thank you for your help, but I should head back home."

"Hold on" Rouge said stopping him. "It's too dangerous out there now. You could get captured"

"I can handle myself. No need to worry. "

"You handled yourself well dealing with those lizards!" Lori was standing at the exit walking over to him. "You're not strong enough to handle those guys"

"A minor setback, it won't happen again. I could have handled those guys"

"No you couldn't! You almost got killed!"

"Toby, stay with us" Jayden suggested. "Please, at least until we can attack the stronghold together"

"Mmmm…." Toby looks down in thought. "Alright, just one night"

"Good" Blaze said nodding . "Come on in, everyone" Blade said walking in the ship. "We've got a big day tomorrow."

"Aren't you going to see Kellie?" Mercury asked.

"She's probably a sleep by now" Blade sighed walking in the ship.

"He works too hard" Amy said.

"So Shadow" Sonic felt a little nervous when he was talking to him. After everything that has happened he is wondering if he is willing to help out him along with the dusk raiders. "Do you trust them now? I mean…"

"I feel uneasy putting my life in the hands of a criminal" Shadow said walking back in the ship with Rouge. Sonic and Amy just look at them walk off. They both hang their heads down.

"He still doesn't trust them" Amy said sighing

"Ah, forget him!" Sonic said "For now, let's just tend to…." Sonic looks up and sees a red glowing ball of light hover around his face. "Wha…." He sees the ball of light cover his face completely. "Whoa!" The same light engulfs Shadows face as well.

_**Pontem and the bridge of Solairte**_

Sonic slowly opens his eyes and finds himself in a large grassy field. "Man…what was that…" He looks around and can see trees surrounding him in the middle he could see a small spring, and in the spring he saw little chao floating around or swimming in it. Some chao were laughing and smiling at each other.

"Another dream" Sonic sighed walking over to the spring and picking up a chao. It looked at him with a smile. Sonic smiles back and look at all the other chao. "Yeah….I remember those days." Sonic sits down and thinks about what he's done over the years. Thinking back to when he was just relaxing like always, and stopping Eggman. Though issues got tense he still kept his cool. Sonic then sees something bubbling in the water. He gets up while still holding the chao. He steps back and sees some of the water take a solid form. The creature was a little taller than him, and had two large feet and claws with glowing green eyes. The creature slowly walks over to Sonic; Sonic narrows his eyes while stepping back.

"You're not scared, are you Sonic?" Sonic turns around and sees a peach echidna holding another chao. "Or do you still have mixed feelings about **Chaos?" **

"Me?" Sonic smiles while standing up straight. "Uhh I was just…making sure…uhhh…"

"Yes" the echidna tilts her head wondering what Sonic was going to say next.

"uhhh…never mind…."

In just a minute, the three of them were sitting near the spring. Sonic was looking at some of the chao gather around Chaos as he was petting them.

"Wow…" Sonic said looking at Chaos' expression. "He looks so different when he's not trying to kill me. But enough on that, what's the big deal bring me here, Tikal?"

"I just thought you could use a little break after you're battle with Solairte" the peach echidna said while petting her chao. "And I was so sad to hear of that little chao that couldn't neutralize the power in time"

"What are you…." Sonic then thinks of the little yellow and red chao and how he was shot by one of those lizards. "It was you…you sent the chao?"

"Not exactly" Tikal puts down the chao. "That little chao's name is **Pontem, **or Pon for short. He's a chao that is over 4000 years old"

"Say what?!" Sonic jumps back surprised. "I thought chao can only live for like…I don't know five years or something."

"Normaly yes, but you see Pon is a light chao."

(Sonic fact; Light chao are known to never die)

"Oh, so..what did he want with Richter and Chrome?"

"Their ancestor, the very first Solairte, wanted his decedents to achieve balance, in their new found power.

Tikal gets up and starts walking around. "For centuries, Solairte has watched over the power of the eight emerald to.."

"Whoa whoa!" Sonic stands up walking to Tikal. "I thought there were seven emeralds"

"Yes…but you see" Tikal looks down. "After the defeat of Chaos, the strong energy effects from him and the emeralds created a deadly surge of energy. To stop this, another emerald was created by a man named Solairte. The emerald indeed sealed the energy, but it was too great to be sealed in just the emerald. So, he along with his brother sealed two separate pieces of the emerald inside each other. And with each new Solairte born, the parent would pass down the emeralds power to the two children.

"And Richter and Chrome are part of Solairte's bloodline, and are now keepers of the emeralds"

"Correct, Solairte was kind and caring man." Tikal said "And to see him go through what he did to save us is a sacrifice I will never forget. And you" Tikal turns back to Sonic. "What you did for Richter and Chrome, was beyond bravery. Once again, Sonic, you have proven yourself to be a true hero."

"Heh heh" Sonic smiles while giving her a "thumbs up". "What'd you expect? But there's something that's bugging me. What happened to Richter? I mean, what if he's now a Cramoisi?"

"Ah, you are worried for him." Tikal smiled. "Sonic, do you remember when I told you "You must lead him out of the dark"

"What about it?" Sonic asked

"The sun is bright and shines down on everything, and the moon will also shine, but their will come a time, where day will turn to night, and night will turn to day. The sun will be consumed by darkness and shroud all light, the white night will ebb out any shadow that is casted down. This task involves both you and Shadow. Keep the dark from consuming the sun, and cast darkness on the not needed light."

"Ok, you're speaking in riddles again" Sonic said crossing his arms. "Can't you be clear for once?"

Tikal laughs while slowly disappearing. "Can't a spirit have a little fun? But remember what I said, everything will be clear to you. Good bye for now, Sonic the hedgehog."

_**Out of the Ice and out of the woods.**_

"BWAH!" Shadow wakes up and sees that he was in an icy cave; it was totally frozen solid. He gets up and starts shivering while looking around. He takes one step and feels a piece of ice break. He picks it up and looks at the glass like ice.

Shadow then hears something whimpering. He turns around and sees a white echidna shivering around large fragments of ice.

"What?" Shadow walks closer to him.

"You freed him!" Shadow turns around while making a battle stance. He looks down and sees a small amber hedgehog with a large gray shirt on giving a big missing tooth smile. "He would have been frozen to death if you hadn't come! Thank you big brother!" she runs over to the echidna and hugs him. "Are you ok?"

"Sister….I'm….so...cold" the white echidna said shivering.

Shadow sighs while taking off his blood red scarf and putting it on the boy. He looks up at Shadow with his innocent looking eyes. "Thank you…..brother"

_(((With Sonic))))_

Tikal was completely out of Sonic's sight. Before Sonic knew it, he was in another forest, only this one was much darker than the last one. He looked around and did not see the chao or Chaos. Sonic starts walking forward. "Tikal, Chaos? Now where am I?" Sonic then hears light giggling. He turns around and sees a small orange echidna sitting under a huge tree. The tree was casting down a large shadow covering most of the clearing. Sonic walks up and sees the orange echidna; he was sitting down with his head down and hugging his knees.

"Looks like I finally found you" Sonic said about to walk in the shade. He gets closer but then sees that the echidna had cuts and bruises all on his arms and legs. "Hey are you alright?"

"He's really hurt" Sonic hears another voice. He turns around and sees a small light brown hedgehog with a brown dress. "We were both playing in the forest, and a scary wolf came and attacked me. He fought off the wolf but he got hurt real bad."

Sonic nods and slowly walks over to him. "Can you stand?"

The orange echidna looks up at Sonic smiling. "Did you know….my blood looks orange when it comes out?" he asked Sonic.

Sonic looks back at the hedgehog and back at the echidna. "Yeah…well come on. I'll help you back home." He picks up the echidna and starts walking out of the shade. As he steps in the light the echidna shields his eyes and grunts.

"What's wrong with you?" Sonic asked

"I'm sorry, it's so bright…." He said. The brown hedgehog was squinting while looking around.

"You both have been in their too long." Sonic said walking deeper in the forest. "Don't worry I'll take you back" As Sonic was walking his vision starts to go white.

_**Black curtain**_

"Sonic….Sonic!"

Sonic could hear a voice shouting out to him. He slowly opens his eyes and sees Amy's face. She was looking over him with a worried face. He gets up and sees that he was back in his room. "Ohhh….Amy? What happened?"

"You conked out when we were about to walk back on the ship." Amy explained "Are you feeling ok"

"Uhhh…yeah" Sonic sits up and looks at Amy. Anything happen"

"Not much, except the fact that you've been knocked out for 3 years"

"Say what?!"

"You and I are now kings and queens of Hell, and rule over a hoard of demons" Amy said laying down smiling

"Wha…what?!" Sonic jumps up and scoots back. "but..but how?"

"Because Mother tried to take over the world and then we were all dammed as a punishment" Amy was speaking like it was no big deal.

"this..this…" Sonic was shaking his head in disbelief. He then sees a black shadow shroud the floor and from the floor came out three black figures with black horns and red eyes.

"We are here to serve you, mighty king of hell" said the figures.

"AHHHH! This can't be happening!" Sonic then hears light snickering. He looks back at Amy who was covering her face as it was turning red. "What…"

"What's wrong, master?" Asked one of the demons who was getting up and taking off its face. Sonic could then see it was Tails smiling. "You look like you've seen ghost"

Sonic then sees Amy fall on the ground, laughing her head off. "What the..?" Sonic turns and sees the other two take off their mask also; the second one was Knuckles and the third one was Silver.

"I can't believe it!" Silver said laughing. "You made Knuckles look smart! OW!" Knuckles punches Silver on his head.

"You totally fell for it! You should have seen the look on your face!" Amy said still laughing. "You actually believed me! "Oh no, we are dammed for life and we control a hoard of demons! HA HA HA! "

"Wow, I got to say, you really had me" Sonic said chuckling

"We figured after your fight, you could use a good laugh" Tails said taking off his cloak. "You've only been out almost all night"

"Yeah…" Silver was rubbing his head walking up to Sonic. "things were pretty much the same"

"How...how did you do that creepy shadow thing?" Sonic asked

"It's so cool, Sonic!" Tails said coming up to him. "Check this out!" Tails closes his eyes and lifts his finger; Sonic could see a small cloud of smoke appear on Tails' finger. "Now watch. "He lowers his finger and in an instant a dark purple portal shows up in front of him.

"Wow, how did you do that?" Sonic asked

"It's just some **crazy trick** we suddenly picked up" Knuckles explained. Tails walks in the portal and disappears.

"How do you do it?"

"It's easy" Amy said

"Think of it as Chaos Control" Silver said. "Or when you're manifesting a set of clothes."

Tails appears behind Sonic and jumps on him. "Using this power allows us it teleport short distances. They can be handy for quick getaways or trick enemies. Come Sonic, try it!"

"Ok." Sonic steps back and tries to make a portal. His hand start to glow purple, but he couldn't create a portal for some reason. "huh" He tried again, but once again it didn't work. "Darn"

"Eh, don't worry, you'll get it" Amy said kissing him on the lips.

"So what's the move called?" Silver asked asked

"Don't know" Knuckles said

"how about...**black curtain**?" Tails asked

Everyone was silent in thought when they then heard a knock on the door. "It's open!" Sonic said. Rouge opens the door .

"Did you guys have some party?" Rouge asked looking at the dark costumes.

"Don't mind them" Amy giggled "So what brings you here"

"Shadow has something to say. Come on We're all going to the mess hall" Rouge said to everyone.

Moments later many of the Cramoisi were in the mess hall. Some of the raiders were awake, but not many. Everyone was drinking a red cup and listening to the two hedgehog's story.

"Ha!" Knuckles said finishing his cup. "So Richter was innocent all along!"

"Do an extent" Shadow said sipping his cup

"I didn't doubt him for a second"

"Everything is happening so fast" Julie added "An eight chaos emerald, these…demons that came out of nowhere…"

"Just a normal day for us" Sonic said getting up and looking at Zenith who had little dolls of people from the ship. "What are we going to do about him?"

"Ignore him" Silver said not looking back "Mercury said that he can get hysterical from time to time"

"So should we tell everyone?" Rouge asked "Once they know the truth…"

"We will tell them" Shadow interrupts her "In due time"

"What do you mean Shadow?" Sonic looks at the black hedgehog who had his head held down and his eyes closed. Shadow then looks back at him.

"Just trust me, alright?" Shadow finishes his drink, gets up and leaves the table.

_**Who dun doed did it?**_

Zenith was pacing around the cafeteria with everyone sitting at the tables looking at him. Its dawn and nether of the Echidna brothers have come out of their rooms at all. The Cramoisi were sitting together as always, looking at Zenith pace with a chart behind him. The rogues were all sitting across from the Cramoisi, eating French toast with scrambled eggs and bacon.

"So, the chao's name is Pontem?" Lori asked Sonic who was sitting next to her, petting the chao.

"Well actually his nickname is Pon. He's over 4000 years old, and he's was sent to bring balance to the power inside the echidna brothers"

"It seems he's taking a liking to you" Toby said

"Yeah" Lori chuckle "Hey..uhhh…how did you sleep last night?"

"Uhh…pretty good actually!" Toby said chuckling. "I just hope my pets are ok"

"You have pets?"

"You'd like them. They are quite peaceful."

Sonic leaves Lori and Toby and walks over to Zenith. "So what's this about?" Sonic asked Zenith

Zenith looked at Sonic with a deadly gaze. Before Sonic knew it there was flash and Zenith was standing right in front his face.

"Oh you know very well what this is about." He said in an ingraining voice.

"No I don't" Sonic said looking at him.

"Don't play dumb with _me, _blue boy! _If _that's your real name!"

"But it's not my real name"

"Shaddup! (shut up)!" Zenith takes his glove off and slaps Sonic with it.

"What is wrong with you?!"

"I said shaddup!" Zenith slaps him again "I'll be asking the questions here! I know _everything!_ _" _ Zenith said waving his finger in front of him.

"Well if you know everything then why…"

"Quiet!" Zenith walks back to his chart that had a cute picture of every crew member. He then gets out a long pointer and points it at the chart.

"Now as you all know there's a chance that your captains, the people we know and love are now undead blood sucking monsters." Zenith looked at the Cramoisi. "No offence to you guys"

"He's kidding right?" Amy asked Sonic

"But I don't want any of you to panic Ok? We'll get through this as a crew.

"Yaaaaaaaaaawwwwwnnnn" Rin-Rin lets out a big yawn while lying on the table.

"I said that there is no need to panic! Zenith screamed in Rin-Rin's face

"AAAAHHH!" Rin-Rin lifts her head in shock. "Wha Wha What's going on?" asked Rin-Rin coming back to reality.

"You were panicking!"

I was?"

"Yes you were! Just now!"

"OH! I! I! I! ….. What were we talking about?"

"Gooood! Denial is the first step to coming over your panic attack." Zenith pats Rin-Rin on the head.

"He's lost it" Onyx said drinking orange juice.

"Yup" Nai said next to him

"Zenith this is ridiculous." said Mercury getting up."You're going crazy. Don't you think that if they did turn over the Cramoisi be able to sense it?"

"Ahhhh. But they won't tell us!"

"We can sense all Cramoisi on this ship. There are no Cramoisi in Chrome or Richter's room" said Sonic "Trust me, out of all of us on this ship Shadow and I have the strongest senses"

"Liar!" Zenith comes up to Sonic and slaps him with his glove. "I'm telling you! You're "Mother" and "Father" did something funky to our caps! I can tell! But don't worry, because I have come up with a way so that all of us can become Cramoisi in an equally matter.

The rest of the crew members moan as they start to listen to Zenith's ranting. Except Jem who was listening closely. "Now if you look at this chart I've…"

Lila was looking at Zenith talk from the kitchen window. She was still kind of down from last night she could hardly cook. She takes out the orange focus stone and still sees that it was still black as coal. She holds it close to her chest. " Richter…."

"Oh you poor dear. You're still think about him aren't you?" asked Vanilla

"I never stopped. I miss see him coming in here and complementing on my cooking. I just miss him so much"

"Well if I know Richter, and I sort of do, he often recovers from situations like this frequently. He laughs he encourages people as well to do what they think is right. I'm sure he'll come out"

"Yeah..." Lila puts the stone back in her pocket and gets back to work.

"So anyway Richter may go for Lila first, and then she may go after Jazz!" said Zenith

"Wait, why me?" asked Jazz

"No…. you might be bitten by Zoomer seeing as if you both have been together a lot. You're a guarantee Cramoisi either way!"

Jazz looked at Zoomer a blushed a little. Zoomer was smiling at her face.

"What do you think, Knuckles? I mean if the brothers were one of us we would know about it right? " asked Tails.

"Of course we would!" said Knuckles "All of us are accounted for; so what do you think happened to them last night?"

"I just want my brother back!" Said Rocky covering his face

"It's Ok honey. We're here for you" said Rouge hugging him

"Riiiiiiiiight, anyway I think that Jazz may go after Rin-Rin." Zenith pointing at a cute picture of Rin-Rin.

"OH! Well please be gentle on my neck, OK Jazz?" said Rin-Rin.

"uuuuhhh sure thing." Jazz just laughed politely after hearing Rin-Rin's comment.

"This is Stupid. I'll be in my room. Make sure you guys are ready. Captains or not we've got to storm Giessian's Stronghold soon."

"Merc wait! You have to stick with the plain! THE PLAN!" Zenith was pointing at his chart

"You're deranged, Zenith!" Mercury opens the door looking back at Zenith. "When you're done being a nimrod, get ready so we can...*GASP*" Something stops Mercury as she was about to leave the room.

"*sigh* Poor, poor fool. Well guess this means that, *GASP* I MIGHT BE NEXT!" said Zenith dropping his pointer and quickly picking it back up. "This is nuts…..I what am I thinking…we're all going to be pirate ship of the living dead!" Zenith had a little vision of everyone as monster looking Cramoisi.

"I know!" Jem said smiling jumping up and down. "Just wait! Soon I'll have my dark prince and we'll be happy together!" She pictures a masculine figure grabbing her about to bite her.

"I don't want to be a vampire!" Nai said "I want to be the cool robot that I am now!"

"I don't want to be one!" Zenith shouted "All of them are pale and emotional and have bad bed hair!"

Mercury comes back with her eyes wide looking freaked out. "What's wrong Mercury?" Silver asked coming up to her. "are you worried about Chrome?"

"Our poor sister doesn't want to be one either" Zenith said while grabbing her and petting her.

Alice and Ty were walking to the Mess hall from another entrance. Ty was limping a bit and holding his chest.

"*Grunt* How long am I going to feel this" He nearly struggled to say

"Mmmmmm Alice is not sure. Could be days, weeks, and years."

"YEARS?"

Alice laughs madly "Alice is kidding! Maybe a few hours to a day or two."

"Ok, that's better"

They both go inside and sit with the other Robians

"Zenith, maybe Merc is Right" said Malcolm "This is a waste of our time. I mean come on this is Richter we're talking about. Do you really think he would just change our lives in an instant? I mean if we wanted to become Cramoisi we can just ask them, just look at Omega, he's a robot and he has the poison coursing through his circuitry"

Ty was looking at Malcolm eat his food.

"I didn't know Robians ate normal food." He said

"Of course!" said Jem "What did you think we just drink oil and suck on electricity all day?"

"Yes" he said without hesitation

"Yeah, but you know solar power is actually quite tasty" said Nai "I feel brand new after I step in the sun."

"We can eat solar energy?" asked Ty

"Taste like orange juice!" said Alice

Everyone then sees a figure with long orange hair come out. Mercury sits down next to Silver still looking freaked out.

"Fine ya freaks! Don't listen to me! But don't come crying to me when Richter comes through that door and…"

"Uhh…Zenith" Nai had wide eyes pointing at a figure behind him.

"Not now, runt. I am trying to explain something here!" he turns around and sees the dark figure. "Huh. Nice try, Onyx! But you're shadow hexes won't work on me!"

"I don't do shadow hexes, plus that isn't my doing" Onyx said staring at the figure

"Oh, really..then..who…." Zenith was now scared as he looks closer at the figure. It's eyes were lowered so he couldn't see his face.

Before he knew it, the figure looks up at him with soulless eyes and a creepy sharp teeth grin. "Hiiii…." He said in a raspy tone

Everyone in the room screamed in shock looking at the face.

"Back! Back! Demon! BACK!" Zenith screamed making a battle pose and lighting coming out of his body.

Everyone could see that the figure was Richter carrying Chrome on his back. "*yawn* hey you guys…" he said in a sleepy tone.

"Richter?" Zenith comes up to him and looks at him closely. "is that…you?"

"Yeeeaaaah, why wouldn't it be?" Richter asked while looking at Zenith's chart.

"Aww look at all the little "us's" they look so cute" he said

"Yeah….cute" Zenith said in a suspicious tone.

"Hey wait…" Richter picks one up. "These look like Alice's dolls of us"

"WHAT?!" Alice stomps over to the chart and looks at the doll of herself. "THESE ARE ALLCE'S DOLLIES!"

"What are you doing with her dolls?" Richter asked

"A better question would be is why she has dolls of us in the first place? Don't you think that's kind of weird?"

"Zenith…" A chill when up his spine when he heard Alice's grown up voice. He slowly turns around and screams seeing Alice in her grown up form and her spike tail pointed at him. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Richter walks over to a table and sets Chrome down. Chrome just lays there with his mouth open and a black blindfold over his face. Everyone was looking at the brothers and not paying attention to the screams of Zenith and the laughter of Alice.

"Is he….Is he…" Mercury said looking at him with tears.

"He's fine" Richter said. "When Chrome is depressed, he tends to…drink….a lot."

"Oh that's not good" Sonic said. 'Uhh…Richter…how do you feel? I mean, after what happened last night…"

"Yeah…" Richter sits next to Chrome looking down. "Hey…Sonic…I…I still kind of feel bummed about how you and everyone else learned of my deepest darkest secret….but now I see…"

"See what?" Sonic asked

"That I have to now kill you all!" Richter quickly gets up summoning his hammers and looking at everyone with blood shot eyes.

"What?!" Sonic quickly gets out his sword ready to fight. Everyone else also got out their weapons. Alice was sitting on Zenith while looking at Richter. Richter looks at everyone with a determined look on his face.

"You all know too much. Now you all must die!" Richter shouted

"Richter…." Mercury said distraught

Richter then lowers his face and starts weeping. As he hears him, Sonic hears something else. He hears a light laugh, that later turns into a loud chuckle. Richter lifts his face and laughs madly while dropping his hammers and falling to the ground holding his chest.

"What…?" Sonic puts away his sword as did everyone else with their weapons.

"You...should...you should….you should have seen your faces!" Richter said while laughing. "You all actually thought I'd turn on you! BWA HA HA HA HA HA!"

"Ok…" Amy said still looking at Richter laugh.

"Ahem." Richter clears his throat and jumps off the table. "In all seriousness, I do feel kind of sad, but happy at the same time."

"Happy?" Sonic asked

"Yeah!" Richter comes up and puts his arm over Sonic's shoulder. "Now that you Cramoisi know my secret, I feel closer to you!" Richter hugs Sonic tightly

'Ugh! Nothing has changed one bit!" Tawny said sticking out her tongue.

"Ok! That's enough!" Sonic said strained. Richter lets go and he looks at Sonic with a big smile.

Everyone else was still a little shocked to see Richter. He was a total wreck last night and now he's up here acting as if it never happened.

"Big brother" said Rocky coming up to him, and hugging him. "I'm so glad you're doing better!"

"See..." Zenith whispered while on the ground to Malcolm "He's already calling him brother. MMWWWEEEEEE!" Alice was pulling on Zenith's leg as he was tapping out.

"Rocky_ always_ calls Richter brother, genius." Onyx whispered back.

"Hey little guy. Hope you weren't too sad." Richter said back

"Nope I'm just happy you're feeling better!"

"Daddy! Said Alice gets off of Zenith and starts running up and hugging him. "Oh, I missed you. I was so worried! Don't scare me like that again!"

"It's Ok Alice everything's fine now. Could you let me go now? You're crushing me!" Richter said straining

"Oh Sorry!" Alice lets go of Richter who was gasping for breath.

"Could you guys excuse me for a minute?" Richter asked nicely

Richter walks over to the kitchen sees Lila looking at him. Lila's legs were shaking as he was walking closer. She confessed her love to him last night and is curious if Richter has the same feelings. Richter was all the way up to Lila as she stares into his garnet eyes. He smiles as he looked at Lila's sparkling eyes.

"Richter…." she said in a curious tone. "I…I….how are you I mean are you…

"Lila" Richter started

"Huh"

Lila then felt something warm touch her lips. It was Richter's lips touching hers. Richter hugged Lila and she closed her eyes felling his warm touch. When they broke Lila looks at Richter's face and saw his eyes over his hair.

"You look beautiful today. So fuzzy and brown I really love it."

Lila's face was blushing. She smiled and hugged him back.

"Wow…..He's actually being romantic…" Amy said looking

"Weird" Tawny added "Who knew that fairy had it in him"

"You're feeling better?" Lila asked

"So much better" Richter said

"I'm so happy! WHAA!" To Lila's surprise Richter lifts her up and spins her around. She was scared at first but then she starts laughing happily.

"Eeeeevil" Zenith crawls onto Blade who pushes him back with his large hands.

"*sigh* I should go see Kellie today. She must be worried" Blade said looking at the door.

"Hey Lila" Richter puts her down and looks at her. "What do you say….we go back to my room for a minute" he whispers.

"Uhh…Ok…." Lila said a little unsure.

"Great! Because I got so much I want to show you!" Richter picks Lila up and starts walking out of the room.

"Now wait just a minute!" Sonic stops Richter from taking another step. "What is your problem?! First you drag your bro in here who is drunk and smelling of wine, then you threaten us, and now you're just going to take Lila back to your room? What's the matter with you?!"

Richter turns around and gives Sonic a confused look. "Sonic, you can't measure or predict the possibilities of my whimsical nature. Heck even I can't. I like the mix . Keeps everyone on their toes."

"What?!" Sonic was now more lost than before. He sees Richter smiling, and walking out of the room with Lila. "By the way, blue boy" Richter stops at the door. "Plague Vior Giessian is going to be the toughest criminal lord we've faced yet, and more than likely there will be blue agents everywhere." Richter turns around and gives him a sinister look. "We can't afford failure this time. I promise I'm going to fight the good fight to bring down the drug plantation. Alice."

Alice walks up to Richter and hugs him. "Yes, Daddy?"

"Have you finished the device for the Cramoisi yet?"

"I'm is still working on it….the one that Jayden tried was only a prototype. But I promise it will be done in a day or so"

"Excellent. Later on, we'll go storm that stronghold, after Lila and I…spend some time together"

"What are you going to do with…." Richter walks out of the room without saying a word. "Wait…!"

"He's taking her back to her room so he can turn her into an undead fiend!" Zenith gets up with bruises and a black eye.

"You're making me mad, Zenith!" Amy said getting out her hammer.

"He was acting kind of strange, but that's no reason to accuse him of being a Cramoisi" Sonic said

"Did you get a good look at him, Zenith?" Silver asked "If Richter was Cramoisi, why didn't he have wings?

"Yeah! And his skin wasn't pale either" Knuckles added

"He must be concealing them. I can tell! He's dead under all that fur! And then Lila will be next, then Jazz and Rin-Rin and…"

"Hey! What about me?!" Jem complained

"Dude, we Robeans have thermal sensors in our eyes" explained Nai

"His vital signs were normal" Malcolm added "And we can see people's body heat just by looking at them. His body temperature and heart rate were perfectly normal"

"Ok….what about Chrome?" Zenith points to Chrome who was sleeping on the table. "Maybe he's one!"

"Nope" Malcolm's eyes turn green as he was looking at Chrome's body. "Only problem is his blood flow is higher due to drinking too much."

"Yeah….you guys check on him" Zenith said backing away. "I'm going to do some recon!" Zenith's body emits static discharge as his body turns into a bolt of lightning that shoots up into the ceiling and travel migrates through the electric current.

"Cool!" Sliver said seeing his brother instantly disappear in a bold of lightning.

"GRRR! Dang him! He better not blow the power grid this time! I'll get him next time" Alice walks over to the dolls and puts them back in the box and walks out of the door, but she turns and takes a look at Toby. "Mmmmm…" She smiles "I wonder if I have any brown fabric"

"Hey wait up!" Ty gets up and runs after her

"Oh, Chrome…." Mercury slowly walks over to Chrome's face and pets his dreads. All she felt was remorse for him as he was laying their not moving.

"Is he going to be Ok?" Lori asked walking up to her.

"Uhhhh…." The girls gasped as they saw Chrome slowly toss and turn. He lifts his body up and shakes his head.

"Chrome?" Mercury looks up at Chrome's face.

"Mercury…" Even with the blindfold on his face, Chrome could tell who was in front of him.

"Yes…" Mercury felt her heart sink as his hand was on her face. She grabs his hand and closes her eyes. "Chrome…." She then opens her eyes as she feels his hand move all around her face and her head.

"So…fuzzy…"

"Chrome….what are you WHA!" Mercury then feels Chrome's hand touching her chest. "Chrome!" Mercury slaps Chrome's hand away. "What are you doing?!"

"Oops….it looks like I hit something soft…." Chrome covers his face and laughs. "They were pretty soft though…..HA HA HA HA!" Chrome's speech was slurred yet happy. He then sniffs around and looks down at some food on the table. "FOOD!" He grabs the plate and starts forking it down like he hasn't eaten in days.

Scarlet looks at Chrome eat her food. "Help yourself…..that was my personal veggie eggs anyway…"

"Sensei?" Lori walks up Chrome as he was licking his hands.

"Lori!" Chrome grabs her and pulls her up to his face. "I…I saw you…in in in….a…great big park with bad bunnies and a jackal! Whoooo….." Chrome lets go and spins around.

"What the heck…." Sonic stares at Chrome who was acting loopy and dancing around.

"High gee gee, what does that even mean, I mean come on…it's crazy….hey Onyx…you…" Chrome turns around and looks at Mercury who had a small sweat drop come down. "MAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" he pounces at Mercury with his mouth wide open with his tongue sticking out.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Mercury screams while closing her eyes. "NOOOO LET ME GO!"

Chrome grabs her by her hips and runs at the door. "YEEE-HAA!"

Everyone was looking at the door without one mouth left closed. They didn't even know where to begin. Both brothers were acting strange.

"Blade?" Sonic turns to the large wolverine. "Does he….always act like that….when he's drunk..."

"I'm just as surprised as you are" Blade said still looking. "The worst thing he does is babble like an idiot, but this….this is new….."

"Maybe Zenith is right" Blaze said "This is like a bad horror flick."

"No," said Silver "This would be the part where all the vamps feast on the mortals one by one"

"HEY! Don't be getting any funny ideas!" shouted Nai.

"Calm down Nai!" said Jem patting his back "But if do can I be first?"

"No one's biting anyone" Sonic instructed "I promised Richter."

"Well, what shall we do now, Blade? You are next in command" Onyx asked

"Right then" Blade said looking at Onyx. "Listen up Raiders, we need do get ready for battle. Onyx, I want you and rest of the raiders to get ready to fight"

"Got it" Onyx said.

"Someone needs to check on the captains" Scarlet added

"Zenith is checking on Richter" Rin-Rin mentioned

"That leaves Chrome. Who will check on him?"

"Oh! Oh! I can do it!" Charmy came flying over to Blade raising his hand.

"Alright alright" Blade said "We're counting on you"

"Leave it to me!" he said flying out the door.

"Everyone else, get ready" said Blade

"What about you?" Onyx asked

"I have some recon of my own. Jazz, you're with me"

"Wha…OH! Right!" Jazz gets up and walks over to Blade

"The rest of you, we'll be back in three hours, be sure to be ready" Blade instructed before walking out of the door with Jazz.

"Aye-Aye!" said the raiders as they all leave the room.

_**Cramoisi rule number #15**_

Sonic and the others were still in the room. Sonic hangs his head in thought. He thinks back to what Darcy did to Richter last night when she bit him, and she let him drink her blood.

"Why are we so, hooked on this thought?" Rouge asked walking up to Sonic. "I mean, what's the problem if either of them are Cramoisi or not? I mean the stronger our team the better right?"

"And what will happen if they all turn, Bat girl?" Knuckles asked

"There goes our protection from the cobalt shroud" Sonic finished.

"Oh.." Rouge's ears drop in defeat

"Well, it didn't feel like he was a Cramoisi" Amy added "I mean we would have been able to sense if they were, right? Right?"

"They had a heartbeat, so I'm going to guess so" Silver said

Sonic gets up from his chair and starts walking out the door while materializing a cloak.

"Where are you going?" Tails asked trying to follow

"Blade said something about going to his village. Have any of you guys noticed something when we were in that village last night? Noticed anything missing?"

"No shopping mall?" Tawny asked with her arms crossed

"No electricity" Jayden asked

"Villagers" Shadow said

"Bingo! The village was empty long before Richter and Chrome transformed.

"The criminal lord" Knuckles stated "It's just as Suni said"

"Geissan has already started with his plantation harvest" another hedgehog stands up looking at the others. "He using the villagers to pick the herbs and plants he needs to create a product to sell to the world."

"Well, let's not sit around. Let's go save them! Uhhh…who were you again?"

"His name is ** Alex,"**

"Where did you come from?" Rouge asked

"He's my partner" Suni said standing up. "What happened to you?"

"A long story. Perhaps you should explain, Damien"

A white rabbit walks up to Sonic. "Do you remember me?

"Yeah….you're that rabbit who was hurt…..Damien was it?"

"That's right!" the white rabbit smiles while giving them a thumbs up. "Thanks so much for saving mine and Iris' lives. If you guys need anything, just ask"

"Uhh sure thing. But first tell us about this guy"

"Oh right! Well after I woke up from my coma, I when on my first hunt with, Daniel. I stumbled upon a mini criminal strong hold, but so far many of the criminals were taken out. That's when I met Alex"

"After I turned the criminal lord in, Damien told me about the Cramoisi and how you guys fought for what was right. So…"

"let me guess, you decided to become one of us right?" Sonic asked

"Well….not exactly….."

"You see we went to a restaurant to get some chow….when…"

Flashback

_Damien was eating a carrot cheeseburger, Alex had a steak with eggs and was looking at wallet with a picture of a girl in it. Rachel and Daniel were sharing fries. _

"_I tell ya, I could get used to this Cramoisi life!" Damien said while drinking his soda. _

"_Oh watch it, darling" Rachel said "We should throw that cup away after…."_

"_So anywho, I can't wait to see Iris! She's going to…" Damien sets his soda down. _

"_Suni…" Alex reaches over for the same soda that Damien put down, and no one was paying attention. _

"_It's nice to have another light user with us" Daniel said "It's been kind of lonely since Cream and Sonic..*GASP*" _

"_What?" Damien looks and sees Alex drinking his drink. "WHOA! That's mine!"_

"_Huh? OH!" Alex puts the drink down. "Sorry man, my bad" _

"_Eh, I'll just get more."_

"_Uhhhh…" Rachel and Daniel were staring at Alex and Damien with their eyes widen. _

"_What's wrong guys?" Damien asked_

"_You look like you've seen a…." Alex starts to feel drowsy and he falls out of his chair . Everyone in the restaurant starts to panic. _

"_Oh dear" Rachel said as everyone was exclaiming random things about Alex's condition and telling someone to call an ambulance._

"_Binding light; mega flash!" Everyone was blinded by the light caused by Daniel. In a second the Cramoisi were gone. Everyone was looking around wondering what happened. _

_Moments later they were all back at the castle. Alex slowly wakes up and looks around in the large throne room. "Oh…what…happened…" he asked He turns and sees Damien smiling and chuckling nervously. _

"_Uhhh…hey man….heh heh..so here's the thing…."_

"_Welcome child!" Alex turns and sees Darcy who was smiling and giggling at Alex. He looks at his hands and gasped. He had claws now and he also felt fangs in his mouth and wings on his back. There was no mistaking it. _

End flashback

Knuckles and a few of the other Cramoisi were laughing their heads off.

"It's not funny!" Alex shouted with a red face. "My whole life has changed all because of some contaminated soda!"

"Wow…just…wow…how is that possible?"

"Newborn Cramoisi, tend to have no control of excreting their poison properly" Sonic explained "So a sample of it resides in their mouths."

"_That's _what Rachel was trying to tell me!" Damien said holding his head.

"When a Newborn goes for his or her own first hunt, they have to kill the victim so they don't turn into one of them." Shadow said "That's why a dark heart makes the perfect target. "

"So…Alex is a Cramoisi….because of some backwash?!" Suni asked with her eyes wide.

"That's right"

"*Sigh* the waitress didn't get me my drink…I don't know why…"

"Well…uhhh no biggie, we'll get through this…heh heh uhhh…" Suni was kind of nervous at Alex's distraught expression. "Hey don't look down, I said we'll get through this."

"Yeah I guess"

"Sorry that happened to you bud, love to stay, but I'm going to check on this so called plantation. "Come on, Amy"

"Right behind you"

_**Jade Jungle Zone Act 1 ~The corrupted Rainforest  
><strong>__Music: Planet wisp Act 1_

Sonic looks ahead at the jungle and starts dashing off. He looks at the dense jungle with different plants and trees. Even though he was out in broad day light the trees and plants were shading him from the sun. As he was running he could see a steel road.

"This is looking very familiar." He said to himself as he runs down the metal slope. He looks to his left and could not believe his eyes. He saw a small factory and machines that were digging in the ground, and cutting down trees. He turns his head back to the road ahead and traverses through the part of the jungle that was still standing. "Those robots are turning the forest into some sort of plant. Could this be the work of the criminal lord?"

As the thoughts race through his head, he continues to speed through the jungle dodging the obstacles in his way, and coming across worker robots with pick axes. Sonic curls up in a ball and dashes through them blowing them away. He then sees a red vine over a large bottomless gap. He jumps on the vine that he then uses to swing to the other side, and on the other side where he sees more robots. He jumps up and does a homing attack on them and jumping on a large horizontal vine grinding on it. He grinds through a large hollow log and over a large green swamp. He could once again see another factory on his left side that looked like was under construction.

"Why would he need factories for a drug plantation?" When he reached a high elevation, Sonic jumps off the vine and onto a tree. He then jumps from different trees, ricocheting all the way downward to a large clearing.

_**Jade Jungle Zone Act 2~The polluted swamp.**_  
><em>Music: Plamtree panic (JPV) Bad Future<em>

Sonic lands on the clearing looking down at the large green swamp; he could see gas fumigating from the bubbling water. "UGH! Smells worse than corpses"

"Now how would you know what corpses smell like?"

"I just…what the? Amy? Where are you?" Sonic looks around looking for the pink hedgehog. Sonic then sees a pink flash appear in front of him.

"BOO!" Amy came into view as her body becomes visible. "Bet you didn't know I was already here did you?"

"Whoa! I forgot you could do that"

"I found a secret way to the factory. Follow me"

Sonic follows Amy deeper across the swamp. They run across a large sunken log and onto another piece of land. The entire area had small patches of land and some sunken trees that would make somewhat of a path. Both hedgehogs jump from tree to tree avoiding the toxic water.

"Why is the water so nasty?" Sonic asked

After jumping of another tree, they jump onto a vine to climb upward. "Its those machines. They are dumping dead trees and some green gunk in the swamp. I can't sense any life here." After they made it to the top they continue to advance through the trees jumping on different branches and falling limbs. Sonic nearly loses his balance and falls off one of the trees, but Amy quickly flies down and grabs him just before is spines hit the water.

"Oh, thanks!" Sonic said as Amy flies back up and over to another clearing. They got a good look The two of them see a pack of robots dumping more waste in the swamp. Amy simply smiles and summons a hammer and also activates her pink Jema that turns into a second hammer. She slams on the ground making a rock come out from it, she then hits the rock at one of the robots damaging it. Observing what happened they look at Amy and lock their guns and ready their weapons coming over to the two hedgehogs. Amy throws her Piko Piko hammer at the robots while controlling it with her hand. The hammer floats in the air and slams on the ground causing a small tremor which makes the robots to stubble on each other. Amy jumps in the air swinging her Jema hammer down onto the pile of robots. She manages to hit one, but all the others slowly get back up. The gun robots start shooting at her feet, but Amy starts spinning around like a pink tornado holding her hammers knocking out all the robots in her way.

"HA! Nothing to it!" Amy said swinging her hammers.

"Uhh…Amy?" Sonic points behind Amy. She looks behind her and sees a large robot with an even larger hammer than hers. "I think he wants to tussle" The robot swings it's hammer down at Amy. She just barely dodges it by jumping back. She jumps forward swinging her hammer at the robots head, but it still stands while looking at Amy directly using it's free hand to try and grab her. Amy then swings her hammer at the hand managing to break it into pieces. She then swings her hammer on the robots head causing it to sink down in its armor. She then kicks the robot onto the ground. Finally she raises both of her hammers that then catch on fire.

"Crashing force; Meteor smash!" She swings both her hammers down on the robot in a fiery sphere and shatters the robot in parts. She looks at the crushed robot and looks at, the factory ahead.

"Nice job, Ames!" Sonic comes up an gives her a thumbs up. He could see the path leading to the factory. "Let's go"

The two of them run over to the factory. They look at the large machines that were cutting up trees and digging in the ground. Suddenly they both see a large mechanical scorpion crawling around the large scaffolding and jumping down at the two hedgehogs staring them. It had a claw for one hand and a drill for the other which it used to spin in front of Sonic trying to intimidate him.

_**Jade Jungle Boss~Egg Scorpion**_  
><em>Music: Boss battle Day<em>

Sonic looks at the large, gray and red mechanical scorpion. It was twenty feet long with a large claw and drill for hands. It also had two glowing red eyes that were looking down at the hedgehogs hovering over them using rocket boosters for legs. that hovering over Sonic staring down ready to attack. It throws it claw at Sonic grabbing him with a tight grip. Sonic tries to break free, but every time he struggles he could feel the grip tightening on him. Amy then jumps at the robot swinging her hammer at one of the eyes. Sonic sees his chance and starts to do a spin dash, breaking himself free from the machine's grip. Sonic jumps down and does another spin dash at the robots head throwing it back on the ground.

The robot gets back up and starts flying forward. Both Sonic and Amy run after it on the metal roads of the factory. The robot scorpion turns around looking at the hedgehogs and shoots red beams from its eyes. Sonic just barely avoids getting burn, bending down on his knees scooting under the beams and rolling into a ball. He changes back to normal and continues running after the large machine. The scorpion then runs his drill at Amy. Amy blocks that attack with her hammer but gets blown back by the impact. She was thrown back, but eventually regains her traction and flies after the mechanical menace.

Sonic was still running after the large insect machine as it was hovering backwards looking right at Sonic swinging it's claw forward. Sonic jumps up in the air and does a homing attack on the claw. He then does another on the right arm of the scattering scorpion and lastly he shoots right at the crustacean's corneas knocking it backward and into a large part of the factory. The Scorpion gets back up and hovers in front of Sonic. Amy was not too far behind. She growls at the machine as it aims its tail at them. Sonic could then see a large blue laser come out from the tail. Sonic jumps out of the way and spins in a ball. Amy jumps right behind Sonic holding her large hammer.

"You ready?" She asked Sonic.

"Let's go!" the blue hedgehog said while spinning.

Amy swings her hammer at Sonic as he was in ball form, turning Sonic into a blue flaming ball that shoots at the scorpion's two eyes, blowing them up. Amy then jumps in delivering the final blow with her hammer on the robots body causing it to blow up.

Sonic jumps down while catching Amy. They both look at the defeated mechanical Scorpion now up in flames.

"I like boiled lobster, but I prefer my shellfish to be cold" Sonic said smiling at Amy.

"But…that was a scorpion" Amy giggled

"Yeah, but he made me think of sea food.

_**Jade Jungle Zone cleared **_

_**Sonic: Is there one machine I can't destroy?**_

_**Amy: Probably not.**_

_**On stranger tides**_

Sonic and Amy look around at the factory as it was still working. There was toxic water below them, machines were working around the area, and all the plants and trees are either dead, or being cut down.

"This looks a lot like Eggman's work" Amy said looking around.

"Yeah…but" Sonic looks down at the toxic water. He sees a stick right next to him and puts it in the water. "What exactly would they want to do in this forest?" As Sonic pulls the stick out he could see some of the stick had been eaten away by the toxic water.

"Whoa…that's defiantly not oil!" Amy said "All these poor people and animals. If something isn't done, all the life around here will die. What exactly are they working on?"

"Don't know, but they won't get away with this" Sonic said punching his fist in his hand. "We're going to find this criminal lord and take him down!"

"Sonic" Amy walks up to him with a smile.

"What…something wrong?" Sonic asked confused.

"You seem so sure of yourself. Even with your life changed you still kept that strong "Never give up" attitude."

"It's what I'm known for" Sonic said smiling. "I'm also happy to know how strong my friends have gotten"

"Do you….do you think, I've gotten stronger?" Amy asked rocking her legs with her hands behind her back.

"Are you kidding? You've been getting stronger even before you became a Cramoisi. And that new Jema you got has also helped out too. And we make an awesome team."

Amy giggles while blushing. "Thanks Sonic. "But how are we going to stop the criminal lord? Do you even know how you plan to attack them in daylight?"

"We'll come up with something"

"We?" Amy quirks her bow in confusion.

"Yes." Sonic grabs Amy and gives her a light kiss.

"This might not be the best place to get all romantic" Amy said backing away

"You're right…" Sonic said looking around.

Sonic could see Amy hold out her hand and create a black curtain in front of her. "Let's head back for now. I think Richter and the others are going to storm the strong hold. The others are probably waiting on us"

"Lead the way, rose cup" Sonic walks over and holds Amy's hand. They both walk in the portal and disappear.

_**Heading out**_

Not too long after, the hedgehogs reappear in front of the ship. They then see the Cramoisi and Richter and Chrome. Richter was wearing a black sweater and black pants. Chrome was wearing a red robe with black belts strapping around his waist and his chest.

"Whoa…nice…uhhhh duds…" Sonic said looking at him

"You like?" Richter asked. "it's just a…old thing I had a long time ago. "

"So…what's everyone doing out here?" Amy asked

"We are going to take care of the evil pig man!" Chrome said laying on Sonic shoulder. "He going down Charlie Brown!"

"When is this dunk behavior going to stop? It's starting to get annoying" Knuckles asked pulling Chrome off Sonic.

"Starting?" Sonic asked dusting himself off

"It could be a while." Richter explained. "The others have gone ahead to the Stronghold to take on Giessan. And since you guys are still….kind of…..unable to fight in the sun. We're going to free those villagers"

"How are we going to do what?"

"HEY YOU!" Chrome points to Toby who jumps at the mention of his name. "Come ova, hear. We're going to use you to get into the camp!'

"Me? Why?!" Richter comes over and puts on a metal circlet on his head.

"Don't worry! You'll be fine! Now come on! Cramizons! Let's scram!" Richter runs forward and jumps on his extreme gear and takes off.

"Wow….I guess mother didn't do anything to him…" Amy said

"Come on everyone" Sonic said speeding off after Richter.

"Are we really going to walk in this hot weather?!" Tawny whined

"Actually…pudding pop!" Chrome looks up in the sky and sees that it was slowly turning orange. "I have a feeling that we won't have to worry about the sun" Chrome jumps on his gear while grabbing Toby and takes off with the others. "HIGH GEE GEE!"

Tawny quirks her eye brow looking at Chrome. "Pudding pop?"

"Never mind him" Shadow said. "Let's get moving" He and a few others start running in the same direction as Sonic and the others.

"This trip keeps getting weirder by the second" Tawny follows after them.

Sonic was following Richter though through the savannah. He saw the dust stir up from Richter's bike while looking at wide open space. It almost looked like he was going nowhere.

"Where is he going?" Amy was right behind Sonic. Even with her new found speed, she was as fast as Sonic.

"I don't….whoa….." Sonic could see something up ahead. It was a large foundry like building with smoke stacks everywhere on the roof, and a large tower in the middle. That had rows and rows of vegetation in the front.

Richter jumps down from his gear and could see three of his comrades already there. Sunni and Lori were already waiting. "Hello ladies"

"About time you got here" Lori said crossing her arms

"Are you alright, Richter?" Sunni asked "Have you seen Alex?"

"He's on his way" Richter walks up and lifts rocks from the ground creating a small wall. Sonic runs up to Richter as he was looking what was a head. "Is that the…."

"Plantation….that's right, blue boy" Richter said "Take a closer look"

Sonic caught the horrific image of the villagers working relentlessly working in the garden, picking leaves and weeds. "Oh, man. This is so not cool!"

"All they've been doing is working for two straight hours without breaks or anything" Lori explained "I can't stand looking at it"

"You're not the only one" Sunni said

"Sonic!" Amy runs up to the group and it wasn't long before the others show up behind them. They all get behind the rock wall.

"HEY! PEOPLE!" Chrome comes jumping down from the sky.

"Shhhhhh!" Everyone looks at Chrome as he was shouting.

Toby jumps down from the gear and looks at the villagers. He looks closer at their heads and could see that they were wearing the same circlets he was wearing. "What is it that they are wearing"

"**Slave crowns" **Richter explained "It's a mafia tool, that's been outlawed of course, developed by Eggman Nega himself."

"I've heard about them" Blaze said "He used them to enslave hundreds of my people to build his robots. That is until after I stopped him."

"So, let's take them off!" Knuckles said cracking his namesakes.

"CAN'T DO THAT, BRO!" Chrome shouted

"Shut..UP!" Tawny punches Chrome on the head

"OW!"

"The crowns are locked on their heads" Richter explained "Removing them by force will give the victim permanent brain damage."

"So..this is locked on my head?" Toby points to the slave crown on his head.

"NOPE! That's just a copy!" Chrome shouted

"We need to shut down the main computer, which is where our friend here comes in. He is going to sneak in there and shut it down."

"That's why you put that thing on his head." Sonic added

"Say no more" Toby looks at his fellow villagers in rage, working nonstop like mindless drones. "These criminals will pay for enslaving my people."

"Remember, you have to act like a "zombiefied" or else the people will get suspicious" Richter reminded

"Got it" Toby starts walking over to the large garden, and starts picking plants. He could see armored lizards walking around with an electric whip looking at the villagers work. Toby moves sideways while still looking at the tall stocks of weeds and leaves, fooling the guards into thinking he was another brain washed villager.

"It's working" Knuckles said looking at him.

"The generator is just at the end of the plantation. If he can shut it down…."

"Chrome, where's Lori?" Rouge asked

"Idinno! (I don't know)" the slurred white echidna said

Toby was still working his way to the generator. Suddenly he hears rustling in the bushes. He looks around quick trying to see if he'd been found out. He then sees a lizard guard walking by, get grabbed by someone who was in the bushes. The lizard tries to break free, but the figure then runs something through his neck, which stops him from moving. Toby then sees the lizard being pulled in the bushes.

"So, Richter" Sonic looks at the echidna. "What….what did mother say to you last night. By any chance….did she…"

"Sonic" Richter interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"I've seen, met, and read of many great elemental masters in my time. But…I've never met anyone like Madame Darcy in my life." Richter looks down and closes his eyes. "The way she spoke to me, I felt nothing like I've ever felt before. I started to understand things I thought I never would. I know what I gotta do." Richter looks back at Sonic. Sonic had never seen him this tense. "I only want you to trust me, as much as I trust you"

Sonic was bewildered at Richter's attitude. He looks at him with a serious look, not goofing off, or even grinning. He could tell Richter meant business. Sonic nods and gives him a thumbs up. "As far as I can tell Richter, I would trust you with my life if I had to."

"Kind of deep there, Sonic" said Tails.

Richter smiles while nodding. "Thanks Sonic. I'm going to make things right. I promise."

"That's so beautiful!" Chrome shouted whole hugging them both. "We're all good pals!"

Back with Toby, he was almost at the generator. As he was looking through the bushes he could see someone in there. He opens them up and sees Lori. "Huh?" He also sees the same lizard guard below her feet, dead. "What are you doing?" Toby asked in a hushed tone

"Helping you" the black haired girl responds in the same tone

"I'm going to get discovered!"

"Not if you don't stop yammering!"

"But..but you.." Toby was stammering trying to find the right thing to say.

"HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Toby suddenly feels an extremely stinging pain on his back. Behind him was another lizard guard with a whip staring at him. 'back to work you, damn scum!" he whips him again. Toby wanted to shout in pain, but he didn't want to blow his cover. Lori was looking at this while narrowing her eyes at the lizard. To make things worse, the lizard had the audacity to push Toby down on the ground and kick him. "Worthless scum!" Toby was doing his best not to express his pain as he tries to get up, but the lizard continues to kick him repeatedly. Lori couldn't take it anymore she quickly jumps out of the bushes. "worthless piece of…AHhh…." That was the last word he said as he sees Lori jump on him and stab the lizard in the neck with a dagger. Lori gets up while looking at the dead lizard.

"rest in peace, bastard" She turns and helps Toby up. "Are you ok?"

"Ah….i had everything under control" Toby said getting up.

"A thank you would have been nice"

"Intruder!" Another lizard shouted while blowing in a small horn.

"Screw!" Richter said under his breath.

Suddenly the two of them were surrounded by ten lizards. Lori draws her blades, while Toby gets out his spear. "You just had to be in the bushes, didn't you?" A lizard comes running at Toby with a mace. Toby kicks the lizard in the chest pushing him back and runs his spear through the lizards chest.

"I was only trying to help" Lori stomps on the foot of one lizard, elbows him in the face and stabs him in the neck. "What would have happened if you got caught?"

"We could have worked something out" the two of them continue to fight each other fending off the lizards, until they were all taken down. But when it looked like they were both finishing them off, Lori could see more lizards heading their way.

"That would be your cue, guys!" Lori shouted back to the others.

"Sonic! You guys take down the guards and free the villagers!" Richter ordered as he jumps over his wall and dashes forward.

"Richter, wait!" Sonic tried to shout out, as Richter summons two hammers and starts fighting his way past the lizards.

Richter runs over to the group of lizards crowding Lori and Toby. He summons eight more hammers that float around him, and starts throwing them, beating them down. He then dashes over to the other side of the plantation.

"Yeah! Wait bro!" Chrome draws his sword and follows him. "AI-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-YAH!"

"Let's just go" Shadow said drawing his sword.

"Everyone, avoid hurting villagers. And take down the guards!" Sonic shouted. The Cramoisi advance forward taking on the guards. Sonic and Amy run ahead after Richter and Chrome.

A group of lizards were going after the two children. Silver steps in front and stops them in their tracks. Blaze then jumps in front and swings her fire lance at their chest, and finally Tails throws light seeds at the lizard's necks draining them of their blood, creating blood cores. His namesakes then start to light on fire as did his entire body, as four more flaming tails grow in his back side. He turns around and sees a large lizard coming at him with two big maces. Tails just smiles and instantly disappears. The lizard looks around looking for the fox when suddenly he feels that his legs were on fire. He looks down and sees a two tails of fire coiled around his ankles he then feels more tails coil on his arms. He could feel the intense burns from the fire coming from the flaming tails. He turns around and was shocked to see Tails flying in front of him with his fiery namesakes grabbing on to the lizard. He feels a fifth tail grab him by the neck. All five tails were trapping him. Tails then finishes him off by swinging his tool-like weapon at the lizard's chest, bringing him down. Knuckles was beating down guards with his fist, backing up Julie who was shooting them down. Sunni was quickly maneuvering around the lizards while holding her reaper. Five lizards come at her with swords, she quickly kneels down and swings her reaper at the lizards legs making him fall on his belly where she finishes it off, stabbing him while he's on the ground. The other four lizards all try to pile up on her. Sunni holds out her hand creating a large light blinding them all, and she finishes them as they were all blinded.

Shadow was warping around the battle field cutting down lizards backing up their comrades. . Rouge was also kicking down foes bring them down one by one, hitting them in places that will either cripple her enemies, or end them. Little that she knew, that two other guards try to get the jump on her, however their little attack failed with two vines front the ground grab them and bring them down. Rouge sees Cosmo controlling the plants that were slowly strangling the lizards.

"Wow, look how everyone is fighting" Amy looks at how everyone was taking on the lizards.

"Yeah, but they keep coming" Sonic sees more and more lizards coming toward the defending party.

"Looks like they could use some backup" Richter was looking at Sonic and Amy from the entrance of the factory. He looks behind him and sees a machine with a large satellite. He runs over and destroys the machine. Richter then turns back and sees some of the villagers stop picking the plants and look around wondering where they are. Toby looks at one of the villagers come to his senses.

"Come on Chrome. We've got business to deal with"

"Righty-o!" Chrome said jumping in a hole in the factory.

"Kemo!" Toby runs over to the tall man. "Are you alright, brother?"

"Where are we, Toby?" he asked looking at the fight.

"No time to talk! These armored monsters have abducted you and used you for labor! We need to bring them down and make them pay for defiling our land"

"Then they will fall at the edge of my…huh? My weapon!"

"Will this help?" Lori picks up a spear from one of the fallen lizards and gives it to him.

"Let us fight for our freedom!" many of the once brainwashed Mazzurians join the fight and take on the army of lizards.

"Whoa-ho-ho! Look at that! They are a village of fighters!" Amy said

The battle was intense. As the Mazzurians were fighting, and the cramoisi were backing them up the lizard numbers start to drop immensely. Some of the lizards summon small units of robotic soldiers. That came marching over to everyone fighting.

"They don't give up!" Amy was fighting off more lizards

"What are we going to…huh?" both hedgehogs look far out in the savannah. Sonic and Amy couldn't believe what they saw beyond the horizon. They could see a large pride of lions and lioness being led by one lion that had a small cub on his head. The lion unleashes a mighty roar, as the army of lions goes running right at the plantation. There must have been at least over forty of them running over to the army of lizards and robots, bring them down.

"RETREAT!" one of the lizards said as a lioness brings them down.

Two of the lioness with ribbons tied on their tails come to Toby and cuddle up to him. "You brought them all!" Toby laughs as he rubs the heads of his pets.

"Wow! That's the same lion we saved in the forest!" Sonic sees the lion come up to him with the small cub jumping down. Sonic picks him up looking at the father lion. "Thank you"

"Sonic!" Tails comes flying over to his older brother with a few of the other Cramoisi. "Let's head inside!"

"But what about…"

"Go Sonic!" Silver shouted from a distance. "We can take them! Go help the others!"

"We've got this, Sonic" Knuckles said while smacking two more lizards together. "Go!"

Sonic looks at the red echidna smirk and him. Sonic then nods and smirks back. "Let's finish off this criminal lord"

Sonic, Amy, Tails, Shadow, Rouge, Cosmo and a few others fly up in the sky and head inside the building.

_**Shadows of Blood.**_

Sonic and the others were flying in the sky looking for a way inside.

"Uhh…this sun is killing me" Amy said looking at the sun with her hand over her forehead. What caught her by surprise was when she looked at the sun she could have swarm she could see a small shade of blackness on the sun. "Nnnnn…." She shakes her head looking away from the sun. "I shouldn't stare at the sun too long."

Sonic looks down and sees a palace like building that was right behind the factory. The factory was obviously the back part of the plantation while this palace was the front. Sonic could see that the door had a large gaping hole in it. "That's where the others are, let's go. "

"Right!"

They fly down into the building and on their way they could see corpses of fallen lizards and robots.

"Ohhh..yum!" Tawny tries to fly down and get a lizard, but was stopped by Shadow. "Aww just one!"

"No!" they all continue their way through the large hall until the reach the end.

They all looked in horror at what was going on. They saw a number dusk raiders all around Chrome who was laying on the ground barley breathing. Onyx and Dwayne were keeping an eye on him while Ryan was trying to give him medicine.

"What happened?" Sonic asked running up.

"This isn't good" Ryan said. "The antitoxin isn't working."

"Where's Alice?!" Amy looks at Chrome, and then turns and looks at Ty who was trying to break a large green shield. A few of the others were trying to break it too. The Cramoisi look inside the shield and couldn't believe what they saw. They saw Alice tied up, and sitting on a hover pad. Standing on another hover pad was a balled man with an olive uniform and black pants. But what was the most horrific part was seeing a whole gang of lizards one by one beating down Richter continuously. Richter was screaming in pain, cut, brused and bleeding not doing much to fend off the oppressing lizards.

"What's going on?!" Sonic summons his sword and tries to break the shield, but to no avail. He looks in horror as one of the large lizards with a big double sided sword walks over to Richter.

"No…no stop!" Alice screamed the man.

"No way" Shadow looks closely at the man with narrow eyes. "That's **Ziggfreed**!"

"Who?" Sonic asked looking back.

"The criminal lord who is responsible for the destruction of red canyon zone. He's the one who killed Richter's father, which caused him to go out of control. "

"What are you saying?"

"The destruction of red canyon zone wasn't Richter's fault. He and his whole family was used to test the power of the chaos emerald inside Richter! He is trying to awaken it again!"

"Then we got to get in there!" Jayden said trying to break the wall.

"All of us have tried!" Ty said.

"Whoa…How did you get so big?" Tawny asked looking at Ty's fully grown body.

"Long story!" Ty turns back to the dome and tries to break it, but when he looks at what was going on, he lowers his arms in horror.

The lizards had Richter up against the wall. Richter's black sweater was ripped up from the bottom to his chest. His pants were also ripped up, as was his bandana. He looks at the lizards gritting his teeth and half opened eyes.

"Look at your brilliant captain now!" Ziggfreed turns to Sonic and the others. "You said you'd stick by him, but he's not even willing to fend off against my hoard!" One of the lizards runs a sword through Richter's arm and punches him.

You should have stayed as an agent of Doctor Eggman Nega. Then maybe YOU COULD HAVE LIVED!" More lizards charge at Richter, punching him and kicking him running another sword through one of his legs. "Well it's too late of remorse!"

"Not like I was asking for it!" Richter said as he was coughing.

"You chose to be with these Sin eaters and children, instead of being a revolution! YOUR FATHER WASN'T FIT TO HOLD THE EMERALD! And neither are you! More lizards beat on Richter as he coughs up blood.

"RICHTER!" Shouted Everyone

*Cough* Chough* Gag* *Wheeze* I'd *Gasp* rather die *Cough* than go back to your damn community!

"STOP IT! PLEASE!" shouted Alice as she was crying.

"Richter…." Chrome, even with his eyes covered, looks at the lizards running another blade through his other arm. His eyes were barley open. He could feel his life slowly slipping away.

"No!" Onyx throws down a bag of medicine. "Nothing is working! He has too much of the poison in him already!"

""He's trying to do the same thing as last night!" Sonic pointed out "Why is Richter just letting him do this?"

"Come on! This that all you got? "Shouted Richter

When Ziggfreed looks at Richter, he saw a figure overshadow him that look like another echidna with spiky hair than Richter's. the shadow was smiling at Zigfreed as he was bleeding just as Richter was, only Richter was bleeding so much that there was a large puddle of his blood under him.

"He said those exact words to me, before he died. GRRRR!" Ziggfreed was looking over the lens over his eye seeing numbers that kept dropping. "No! his energy just about gone! Fine, Richter. If you won't give in to your rage, THEN I WILL PRY THE EMREALD FROM YOUR COLD, DEAD BODY! General, Kill him!"

"YAH!" another lizard runs a sword through his second leg. The large lizard holds up large sword, about to run it through.

"RICHTER!" Sonic tries to break the shield again, but still it was undamaged.

"*Wheeze* It's too late" the large green pig Giessian smiled with black bloodshot eyes and dripping black sweat"

"NO!" many of the raiders continue to try and break the shield.

Everything seemed like it was going in slow motion

Richter looks at the large sword about to impale him. Alice could not look away with her tear-filled eyes, as she was helpless to do anything to help Richter.

"YAH!" To Richter it all happened so fast. He could feel the sharp, cold iron pierce his chest. He stares up with wide eyes at the smiling lizard sticking his tongue out. He then hangs his head down, feeling his heart beat slow down.

Chrome's eyes were just about closed. "I….I….I'm…not…..your…se-rv-ant…" Those were the last words he uttered before closing his eyes and allowing his head to slump.

"Captain! NO!" Onyx said punping his chest. "Damnit! Don't you dare leave me!"

"Don't do this, frosty!" Dwayne shouted pushing Onyx out of the way and pumping his chest.

"Richter….NOOOOOO!" Rin-Rin said banging on the glass crying.

"This….this can't be happening….." Jazz said kneeling down.

Amy holding on the glass. She then growls while banging on the glass with her hammer. Not even she was strong enough to break it.

Shadow turns away from the glass ignoring the screaming and crying from some of the crew mates. Rouge walks up to him with a worried expression. "I guess they were just regular echidnas after all."

Ty looks at Richter's body, scanning it with his thermal vision. He looks down while closing his eyes tight. "NO! Not again! His heart rate…it's gone!"

Saphron was hugging Jayden who was also crying.

"AHHHGGH!" Tawny slams her fist on the ground. "DAMNIT! Why didn't you do anything?!" She starts weeping too, but she was doing her best not to make it obvious. "Damned idiot!"

Giessian was laughing in his chair while coughing and wheezing. Zigfreed looks at Richter's body and scoffs. "You brought this on yourself. You could have lived peacefully as Nega's minion, fool."

"YOU!" Alice had her head down. Her body was shaking and glowing a silver aura. "You, took, my brother, my body, my life, and now you take my father too." Alice's fangs grew longer and the tip of her tail turns into a mace. "I'll never forgive you!"

Alice looks at Zigfreed with her eyes completely blue. She then breaks free from her restraints roaring like nothing anyone has ever heard. She then jumps at Zigfreed, and grabs him by the neck and throws him on the ground. Zigfreed looks up at Alice as she was slowly walking over to him growing and still glowing bright silver. Within an instant he was gone. Alice looks around for him trying to sniff him out. All of a sudden she felt her body go completely numb. She turns around and sees Zigfreed holding her tail and bending it a certain way. She then falls on the ground still looking up at him, being unable to move.

"Such arrogance" he said scoffing. "I am impressed you were able to transform, but you are nowhere near the level I am, and certainly not your brother. He has surpassed even me, you haven't even come close to the ultimate level yet."

"Ultimate….level?" Alice said strained

"Perhaps Richter's death will be a good thing; it will make you stronger, when you come back to Nega. He'll be so pleased to have you back he may even give me another promotion, not that I need one. General?

"Yes, master?" the big lizard comes up to Zigfreed.

"I want you to butcher the body, and find that emerald. Today, my vision will become a reality"

"As you wish, master" the lizard laughed getting out a knife and walking over to Richter. "I'm going to carve you up reeeeallll good!"

"Richter…." Sonic looks in rage as the lizard was skipping his way over to Richter with the knife. He never felt this helpless before. He lowers his head in rage with his hands glowing purple. He looks at the glass and then lifts his hands slowly creating a purple portal. He then walks in the portal. Sonic stares at the lizard holding his sword. He then runs over at the lizard getting ready to strike, but suddenly he hears screaming. He stops flying for a minute and looks around, he then sees the general lizard screaming looking at his hand cut off and gushing black blood. Sonic flies up higher and sees the swords that were impaled in Richter were pulled out except for the big one in his chest. He also saw something even stranger.

He didn't see how it was possible but he could see a sensation of coming out of Richter's body. It was glowing orange and black and moving like a snake. The lizards could see it fall into the pool of Richter's blood; what surprised them was that it was black and orange. They could all see the blood slowly move over to Richter's body and form into a hand the hand grabs on to the sword and pulls it out making Richter's body fall, landing on his arms and legs.

"What?" Ziggfreed was looking at Richter's body as it was kneeling down and the blood formed into a hand still holding the large sword.

"Richter?" Sonic calls out to the limp orange echidna, who had his head down not moving.

"Ahhh! Why won't you die!" a lizard said taking a sword about to swing him, but suddenly another hand made of blood grabs the sword before impaling Richter. Richter's stands up while shaking and gimping. The lizard could see Richter's muzzle cracking a smile. "Huh"

"Master! He's standing! And…and...he's smiling!?" one of the lizards said

"Impossible!" Giessian said coughing.

Sonic sees Richter giving a sharp tooth grin while looking down. Everyone could see him moving and could not believe what they were seeing. Richter was moving up to the lizard with the sword and grabs him by the shoulders with his regular bloody arms. The blood hand drops the sword and reforms behind Richter.

The lizard didn't know what to do. He looks at Richter with his face down cowering in fear.

"**EEEEEAAYYYYYYHHHH!" **

Everyone could hear a loud, eerie cry coming from Richter. His mouth was wide open unleashing a powerful screech of horror, that made everyone cover their ears.

"AHHHHH!" Screamed the lizard as he could feel his ear drums explode and his head leaking blood.

"AHHH! It's worse than when Jayden screams!" Tawny complained.

"THE HELL?!" Shadow said shouting.

Sonic was holding his head while hovering over Richter. He then sees the lizard being flown back into a wall with his sword impaled through his chest. He turns back to the lizards looking at Richter who was breathing hard with the blood hands hovering over him.

"**Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh" **

Sonic could hear light chuckling coming from Richter. The laugher was dark and a little maniacal.

"**Eh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"**

Everyone could hear the laughter, and see Richter toddle around almost like he was dancing. He looks up with his eyes that were now orange and soulless with black sclera (white part of the eyes) . Onyx looks at the blood hands as they were glowing and moving around like snakes behind Richter. He was shaking and slowly stepping back.

"What's going on?" Rin-Rin asked "What is that big mass behind him?"

"A…**Blood shadow?!" ** Onyx sits on his knees looking at the mass in fear.

Richter was still waddling around giggling while holding his shoulders. "**It's…It's just so…so wonderful….I..I feel so…so….Eee hee hee hee hee! I love it! All of it! Give me more!"** His voice was dark and maniacal. **"So many…so many nice people…..they…they…gave me so much….i…I want to give them….so much…..eee hee ha ha ha ha ha ha!" **

He screams at the lizards and grabbing one with his hand .The lizard could feel his skull being crushed and Richter slamming his head on the ground. **"COME ON! I WANT IT! HURT ME SOME MORE I LOVE THE PAIN!" ** The lizards wanted to do something but they were too scared to even flinch. Richter throws the lizard in the wall with the one already impaled on the wall and looks at the others grinning with his sharp teeth. A few of the lizards swing their swords at him, splattering his blood, but in an instant the blood starts to travel onto the swords and on their arms. "**Is that all! GAHH! GIVE ME MORE!"**

"Daddy…" Alice looks at Richter giggling as the lizards were slowly being covered with his blood.

"Something's not right…" Ty looks at Richter through his lens scanner. "His life force is back….but why don't I see a heart rate…"

"Is he….could he be….?" Jazz was looking at Richter also

"**Oh-ho. Look at my blood it's so orange and pretty**!" he said with his eye twitching and he was looking at the lizards as the blood was covering up their faces and slowly forming around them. The blood felt like it was crushing them from the outside. "**You gave me…such a lovely gift too. Oh you're nice. Let me give it back. Let me give it ALL BACK!" NAYYYHHHH!" ** They then feel their swords slip out of their hands and run right through their necks. The blood shadow's hands grab them and throw them on the ground hard. Richter's arms and body were twitching as his legs were still doing that waddle –like dance. He looks at all the other lizards with a grin and his head tilting side-ways. **"High gee gee" **The blood extends into six separate fractions and impale the lizards like spears killing them all at once. The blood then comes back to Richter and form into hands again and grab two more lizards that stabbed Richter's limbs. Everyone could hear the screams and sounds of something ripping apart. Many people look away at the carnage including Sonic.

"What….what happen to him?" Amy said stepping back looking at him slaughtering even more lizards.

(I'd go into detail, but I might be pushing mature content the limits already)

"It's a blood shadow" Rin-Rin said. "I've…only heard stories of it. It's a move only darkness users can use"

"it's not just that" Onyx said looking at Amy. "Blood shadow is an old and forgotten move. Many people deemed it forbidden, because once it's active. It will destroy anything that's around it. You'd have to be a true master of darkness in order to even come close to controlling it. What scares me the most is that Richter isn't even a dark user, even if he was, there is no way he'd be able to control a wild entity. "

"Are you kidding?!" Tails asked freaked out

"I don't kid, kid. We could be in serious trouble"

"But Richter wouldn't hurt us, would he?" Rin-Rin asked "We're his friends"

"It won't matter" Dwayne added. "Richter's mind is completely closed off from his body. All that's left this entity that will destroy everything."

"Who cares?!" Tawny said smiling while looking at the carnage and the corpses of the lizards everywhere. "Look at him ripping up everything! It looks so cool! He's tearing them up like cruddy homework and he isn't even breaking a sweat! I totally have a new respect for him now!"

"Wow…just...wow" Jayden said looking at Tawny giggling at Richter destroying everything.

After all the smaller lizards were killed, Richter looks down with a frown**. "You're done?! How boring!"** He looks at the general who was looking at Richter. **"You look like fun"**

"Please….I'm sorry!" he pleaded while scooting back. "Have mercy! Please! It…it was Zigfreed! He was the one who hired me! Please! I beg of you! I'll give you anything! I'll be...I'll be you're servant!"

"**Eh-HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Your fear, your sadness….it's intoxicating! If you will give me anything**" The blood shadow grabs the lizard like a large set of hands. "**Then give me your pain**!"

The grip on the shadow tightens and slowly cracks all the bones of the general. He drops his dead body on the ground and looks at Sonic with a grin.

"I don't know what's happen to you" Sonic flies down holding his sword. "But you got to snap out of it dude! You've gone mental!"

"Sonic no!" Amy pleaded "get back!"

Richter just sulks at Sonic with his eye twitching again**. "You..you..you can't give me anything."** He turns to the other cramoisi and crew mates."

"EEeee…we're dead…we're so…dead.." Zenith said cowering. "Oh, Merc…where are ya…"

"**They can't give me any either…none of them…the don't….RRAAGHH!"** Richter holds his head and growls**." I…I..I can smell fear…but they don't give me pain.**" He sounds as if he was staring to break in tears. **"I need more…I feel fear….but I need pain!"**

Sonic could see Zigfreed slowly walk up to Richter holding a large ax-like sword. "This is depressing" he said looking at Richter as he was looking at him. "not only is the chaos energy completely gone, you've been reduced to nothing more than a brain dead shell."

"**Eeeeee…**" Richter smiles while tilting his head. "**You have given me a lot**!" Sonic turns to Zigfreed and points his sword at him.

"Is he insane?!" Onyx was looking at Zigfreed "He's signed his death warrant!"

"It's time I put an end to you." Zigfreed said lifting his blade walking up to Richter. "That emerald will be mine!"

Sonic's eyes widen as he was looking at something that was blocking Zigfreed's path. Onyx couldn't believe it either, neither could anyone else.

Richter was looking at Chrome standing in Zigfreed's way with his hand out and looking down.

"Captain?!" Rin-Rin as astonished looking at him standing with his hand out.

"*Wheeze* They are like cockroaches! ALL OF THEM!" Giessian bellowed.

"Heh heh heh" Chrome smiles while looking up with his blindfold on. "You sure sound sure of yourself, don'cha Ziggy? You think you own the Solairtes like lost pets? Please."

"How is this possible? Your readings are still zero, how can this be?" Zigfreed said as he was still holding up the ax-sword.

Sonic could see a large scabbard on Chrome's back. It was black with white stones on it. "wasn't the scabbard on his right hip?"

Chrome reaches for the blindfold and unties it. "Man, it will be nice to take this thing off finally!" He opens his eyes and shows Zigfreed his glowing turquoise eyes. He then pulls something out of the scabbard. It was a large red buster sword with a huge peal adjacent to the hilt. He looks up at Zigfreed with holding his sword up. It looked like he was about to swing it him, but to his and Sonic's surprise he turns around and swings it at Richter's chest.

"**NYAHHH!"** Richter jumps back screaming while holding the large gash in his chest that was glowing white. Everyone could see the blood shadow seeping inside the gash back into Richter's body. His other cuts and gashes were slowly healing as well. He was screaming as the entire blood shadow goes back inside of him. When it was all inside the white gash seals itself up. Richter's sclera changes back to white as he was still screaming. He then looks back at Chrome with narrow eyes.

"Whoa…." Sonic just looks at the two brothers. Chrome was smiling while Richter was growing and murmuring something under his breath.

"Tumdak" he murmured under his breath. "Tumdak Rekuxoh! U nuj Xuladw wid nakx Kxom! Nxo uho oei uvnuoj u bacczeo?!"

Everyone was dumbstruck including the criminal lords, at what Richter was saying.

Chrome just chuckles while shaking his head. "Nxo? Rosuijo oei nxo ud idkhuadot sxact nxe doonj wiatudso."

"is…this…part of the blood shadow thing?" Amy asked Onyx

"Not that I know of" he answered. "I've….I've never heard this language.

"Me neither" Rin-Rin said "And I know a lot of languages"

"Idkhuadot? Kxo tojohlo keaj! Kxo xulo suijot keaj edo je misx fuad!" Richter said back at Chrome growling.

Sonic couldn't explain it, but it was like he could understand what the two brothers were bickering about. The Cramoisi were also listening in and understanding what was going on.

Khio, rik houskadw ad kxo nuo oei uho nacc jodn u run mojjuwo ke eih jaracadwj, udn sxacn." Chrome said back to Richter.

The tongue they were speaking was almost clear for Sonic to understand. There were a few phrases and words that sounded a bit hard, but he could almost understand it as if it were his own language.

"Reacting in the way you are will set a bad example for our siblings, and your child" Sonic whispered under his breath

Richter sighs while looking down. "Oei uho hawxk, vehalo mo" He walks over passed Zigfreed and back to Alice. Alice looks at him with a bit of a scarred look. Richter just smiles and pets her head while grabbing her tail and bending it back to normal. She was now able to move again.

"What is going on here?!" Zigfreed said with a demanding voice. "I demand you quit your constant gibberish and tell me what is going on!"

"I wish I knew" Sonic said scratching his head.

Chrome laughs again while sheeting his sword. "Brother, I think it's time we told everyone what was going on, don't you?

Richter smiles while looking at the large green glass shield and giving it one punch shattering it to pieces. "Adnoon" Richter said looking back smiling and putting his hand over his head in a certain way.

Sonic recognized the style and gasped while stepping back in disbelief.

"That's the same form that we use" Amy pointed out. "But...does that mean…."

Richter and Chrome were both glowing as a new set of clothes materialize around them. Chrome was wearing a long red cape that was ripped up on the bottom and the large scabbard on his back. He also had on no shirt and short ripped up jeans and white fingerless gloves and sandals on

Richter had on a black vest-like jacket, with no sleeves, and was unbuttoned, showing his bare chest and a patch of fur on the collar. He also had on black shorts and spiky shoes on. Richter's hair was also longer than normal with his bangs now black and drooping down. His eyes were glowing orange with white pupils.

"Richter?" Sonic looks at the orange echidna as he was looking down smiling.

"You….impossible…" Zigfreed said staring at him.

"Is…Is Richer now….a…" Rin-Rin was too lost for words

"Daddy? Madame Darcy…she….she did do it"

"Zigfreed" Richter said in his normal voice sounding more sincere. "You have caused this one much pain, as well as others. I will not forgive you for what you've done. Sonic" Richter turns to him with a smile. "Let's put an end to his bogus tyranny"

To everyone's surprise a pair of large orange bat wings appear on Richter. "Once and for all"

Sonic knew what was going on. He wasn't completely sure, but he had a good feeling as he was looking at Richter giving him a thumbs up. Sonic nods and holds up his sword and turns to Zigfreed. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

(((((TBC))))))

Well? Was it too much for you to take? I told you didn't I? Well, what a surprise! Richter and Chrome have totally transformed! What's in store for our heroes? Will the conquer the two opposing criminal lords? Well enough crappy narrating. Just find out next time!

Sonic: Ok so here's what's going on. After seeing that strange show the brothers put on, both brothers have now transformed into what you see now! And if that wasn't strange enough that poison pig is pretty mad at us for destroying his plantation, not that I care or anything, we're going to roast him just like every other lord. But just when things start to go our way, that crazy frog form the last chapter comes back for round 2! But with this new Jema, he's going down!

Next time: Crepuscule (crep-u-sk-ool-); awaken form the eclipse

Sonic did I mention there was going to be a Solar eclipse?!

_Author notes: There may be some parts you did not get, but not to worry just read Chapter 13 of Orange dawn and that will fill in some of those empty holes…..of course you might have already known that…._


	14. Crepuscule: Awaken from the eclipse!

Ok, I'm going to just skip the whole "Please forgive me for posting so late" stuff and get right down the nitty-gritty

Disclaimer: NO SEGA characters are mine. Some fan chars that may be in here are not mine either, yet some (and I mean 95%) do belong to me.

Please note: this chap is long, I mean…very long…about 40 pages. I will try to make them shorter…if you want, but if not then sweet….

_So far in Blue Dusk…_

_After discovering Richter and Chrome's past Nero, Shadow has second thoughts about how he treated them, but his feelings still leave him unsure. After Nero left, Fear tells Shadow that she has been tricked by Klaus and that he was tracking the Cramoisi using his and Fear's DNA. Fear then leaves and Shadow and Rouge return using the chaos Emerald she "Borrowed" from Richter. Sonic and the others also learn more about the past of the Dusk raiders and the echidna brothers listening to Dwayne and Ryan. Sonic then learns that the frog that attacked him was a navi marcoat named Limrana. Before Darcy and Zerach leave the dusk raider's Sonic and Shadow were given a third jema. After a while, Sonic and Shadow both had strange visions involving a special chao named Pontem who has a connection to Solairte. It was also about small children revealing Richter and Chrome. The next day, Sonic and the others see the two brothers wake up, but something was very off with them. They were acting strange after Darcy and Zerach had a "Chat with them. Wanting to learn more about the empty villages, Sonic and Amy go and investigate the jungle that was infested with pollution. If that wasn't bad enough, after heading to the criminal strong hold, the villagers were being enslaved forced to pick plants for Geissian's foundry. Richter plans a siege against the criminals and heads straight for the foundry. Sonic and a few others follow him only to be find that he along with Chrome were fighting for dear life. Richter was being beaten by his old enemy, Dr. Ernest Ziggfreed. It was all over for Richter and Chrome who was poisoned. But just as all seemed lost, his body was starts moving and a dark orange manifestation that formed from his blood destroyed all his enemies around him. Onyx called it a blood shadow. An even bigger surprise, Chrome somehow came back to life as well and slashed Richter causing the blood shadow to return to his body. After speaking in some illiterate language, both Chrome and Richter turned into what looked like Cramoisi….._

Richter and Chrome were standing in the middle of the large room looking at Zigfreed and Giessian. Everyone was still on the ground looking at Richter amazed at his transformation. Richter turns to everyone staring with his glowing orange eyes , with a smile.

"He….he's a Cramoisi too?" Shadow stares at Chrome wearing a large red scarf holding a big sword.

"Richter..?" Sonic walks up to him in disbelief. "Is it…really you?"

Richter then looks at his body and at his gloves that were now fingerless and his fingers that were now sharper claws. "This is…." He said quietly. "This is a lot to take in."

_**Chapter 14**_

_**Crepuscule: Awaken from the eclipse! **_

_**Twilight Brothers **_

"Once a killer, always a killer" the others turn to Ziggfreed. "So it seems that you still had a small light of goodness inside you, which explains your transformation. However, it doesn't change who you are. Rather you be a Cramoisi or Dusk Raider, you're still a killer who has now joined a whole league of killers. They are no different from you. They slaughter lives just like you."

"That's true, Ziggy" Chrome said putting his sword over his shoulder. "They are killers, no different from you, Gaussian or Dante'. But there is something that separates us from you."

"We don't kill for our own benefit, and rob those who are unfortunate" Richter added "We destroy those who dokill for their own benefit and thrill of seeing a life fade away, and those who toy with other people's lives." He kneels down in front of Alice and picks her up. "You're tyranny over the Solairte family is over. And I mean _all _Solairtes"

Ziggfreed looks at Alice and looks at Richter while chucking. "You think you can just adopt her? Please. You cannot claim that which belongs to me. The name Angn Kintobor belongs to me. What makes you think you can just clam something that isn't yours. "

"Uh….I don't know…maybe it's because….I'm a pirate?! I didn't know there was a limit to things I can take."

Alice started giggling. "He has a point, Ziggfreed. And I'm not going to let you take another father from me!"

"So you chose to be with this pirate, rather than being with a brother who can lead you to a world of revolution? Fine, but I knew you Cramoisi would be here, that is why my suit is well equipped to deal with your magnitude of power and speed. You won't be able to defeat me. I will eradicate you all and then I'll work you pathetic dusk….UHH!" While he was talking, Ziggfreed was kicked in the face and knocked down by Chrome.

"You're not my brother, you never were" Alice said

"You know what I hated about you the most Ziggfreed?" Richter asked walking up to him. "You go on and on and on, about yourself. It's annoying."

Sonic was laughing when suddenly he sees one of the fallen lizards slowly getting up. He looks at Richter and giggles while taking out a Nith metal stone.

"Richter behind you!" Everything was going slow as the lizard was about to place the stone on Richter. Without warning Richter throws Alice in the air, Chrome jumps up and catches her and rolls away from Richter. Richter then turns around and grabs the lizard's hand, while grabbing the Nith metal and throwing it out of range.

Richter pulls the lizard in front of his face. "Dummy" he then throws the lizard in the air while clasping his hands together while forming a huge orange energy ball. "Chaos…..INFERNO!" Richter then unleashes a massive ray of energy at the lizard, obliterating him and the entire roof sky high. Not only that, the blast nearly ingenerated the entire building where everyone outside could see. Rin-Rin had put up a large shield around everyone avoiding the rubble and falling debris. Sonic shelled himself with his wings. When he opened his eyes he gasped as he saw that the entire sky was orange and the sun was nearly covered in black. Giessian was covering himself with his body mass.

"Way past cool! A solar eclipse!" Sonic pointed out.

"Wow…."Alice was looking at the sky. Chrome walks over to the others and sets her down.

"Stay here" Chrome said to Alice jumping back to Richter.

"Impossible!" Ziggfreed looks into the lens device looking at Richter. "His chaos energy is climbing at an alarming rate! And he's not in rage….how can this be?!"

"It's over Ziggfreed" Sonic pulls his sword up to Ziggfreed's face. "The villagers are set free, your plantation is history, and dude. You are outnumbered. "

Ziggfreed pushes the sword away from his face. "You hedgehog, are naïve and cocky"

"EEEAAYHHHHH!" out of nowhere, Sonic could hear a loud croak and a strange hoping noise. Behind him came the black and purple frog with a blue and black cloak, who kicks him in the face.

"Tell me, have you met Limrana?" Ziggfreed asked "He has been egger to meet you and finish off you vampires."

"Yeah, we met" Sonic said getting back up. He and the others see multiple blue agents and criminals enter the dome.

"Surrender, Cramoisi" Ziggfreed demanded

"How bout you surrender?" Richter asked "And we'll let you live"

Zigfreed's arm turns into a small cannon. "Here's my answer. MALICOR DOOMBRINGER!" he unleashes a powerful red energy ray that hits Richter.

"Oh no!" Sonic shouted as Ziggfreed laughed maniacally. When the blast cleared everyone could see smoke, but no sign Richter. Zigfreed's smoke turns into a frown when he sees Richter still standing holding up his hand unscathed

"_No! That's impossible! That was the same move I used on Rizen, and he just stood there like it was nothing!"_

Richter makes a cocky grin. "Oh well, can't say I didn't try" Richter reaches down in for his belt sash and gets out two black and purple jema that turn into weapons. These weapons were not hammers, but they were two purple and black swords with gun like features on the hilt.

"Gunblades…..he has them too?" Shadow asked

"Those are the weapons he used when he was Exrrtich, but they look different somehow….." Dwayne said looking at them

"Leave everything to us, Master Ziggfreed" One of the blue agents said to him "Come quietly, you cramoisi scum" One of the leaders of the hoard of agents comes up to Richter with Nith metal blades in his hands. Richter feels the negative energies from the sword. After grabbing the stone from earlier his body starts to feel heavy. Richter then runs up to him while taking in a deep breath and screaming right in front of the agent. The agent looks at Richter trembling while hearing his horrific scream. In addition, he sees ghost like figures coming from behind Richter and wisp around him feeling a burning sensation.

For some reason, he became terrified of Richter and everything around him. "those who have fallen…feel their pain; Nightmare! " The ghost figures howls and screech making him cover his ears and back away from Richter as he starts so smile. "Boo!" He said making a face. The agent drops his swords and runs away. Richter then starts panting felling the effects of the nith metal. "Damn. I need to take it slow….getting too excited….."

"How did…" Sonic looks at the agent running out of the room screaming out of his mind.

"Demon! He's hexed our leader's mind! He's in league with devils!" Another agent said drawing his sword. "Show no mercy!"

"Ah, my favorite words!" Richter shakes off the feeling the best he can but still starts to sway from the energy of the stone.

"Hang on bro!" Chrome said smiling holding his blade. "I got your back! HIGH GEE GEE!" Chrome jumps in the air.

"In hindsight, I wonder why I even say those words…" Richter said giving Chrome a blank stare.

"Bring forth the forgotten shine" Chrome jumps in the air and his red scarf turns into a pair of red wings. He then lifts his sword in the air that begins to change instantly. The tip of the sword pivots 90 degrees to the left forming into a new blade, while the middle part of the sword turns into long pole. His sword was now a silver scythe. He then takes out a large white marble and places it at the top of the scythe. "Liberator of the forgotten light; Light reaper!" He then looks down at the agents. "You don't seem to using it. Good." He flies down in an instant and looks at the agents with a smile. "You abuse your gift. Give it to me!" He then swings his scythe at the agent then falls down with a white glowing light coming out of his chest and into the large marble. The agent gets up while growling looking at Chrome smiling. "Go on. It will all be over soon." The other agents run at Chrome with swords in hand about to attack Chrome. Three agents swing a sword at Chrome, but he blocks the attack and throws them back with more white lights coming out from their chest and fusing with the marble. As more agents come at Chrome he moves away as if he was dancing, avoiding every sword ducking and spinning holding his scythe like a like spinning on a street light. With every agent that was touching the scythe, a light comes out of their chest and fusing with the marble of light. "That's it. Keep giving it to me. Give It all to me."

"Way to go Chrome! Give them what…Whoa!" Richter jumps back on one leg from one of the agents attacking him. The agent swings his sword, but Richter ducks down while spinning on one leg and points his blade at the agent shooting a dark shot* in his chest, bringing him down.

(*Dark Shot. A black bullet made up of the darkness element)

Richter then puts the blades together forming one long double-sided blade with the handles in the middle. "It's been a long time since I've done this!" He looks at the agents with a cocky grin. "You're very lucky" He then runs at them as they bring out their guns and start firing. Richter could see the bullets with ease and defects many of them with his weapon while still running. He then jumps at the first agent and swings his weapon killing the agent. He continues to swing his weapon at all the opposing agents, defecting any bullet or blade coming at him. He did get cut by a few blades, but continues fighting. He then runs his blade through another agent and shoots out a few more dark shots at the agents behind the agent, taking them out, he then pulls out the blade seeing the agent fall. His weapon breaks apart, back into separate blades and continues fighting the agents around him.

"Are you just as confused as I am?" Amy asked Tails.

"Yes." He said looking at the echidna brothers fight with their new weapons.

Shadow looks at the fight astonished. Richter was welding the very same weapon he has, with a different design, and wielding it like a master. "Could those be the same brothers?"

Richter sees two more agents stepping back from Richter as he slowly walks up smiling. "Now….what was that thing you said about me coming quietly."

"D-Don't come any c-closer!" one of the agents was quaking in his boots holding up his sword.

"Yes." Richter closes his eyes. "I can feel your fear, hate, and rage for me. You use fear to provoke your enemies. That's how you beat them, isn't it?"

"S-shut up!" another agent throws a Nith metal stone at Richter, who slashes it in half.

Richter than looks at Sonic. "Do you see now Rekuxoh (Brother)? These agents don't hate us. They fear us. They have no idea who we are so they want to bring us down. Just like the one who I chased away. They all fear us, even Klaus."

"Richter…" Sonic looks at him slowly walking to the agents as they continue to tremble.

"Now.." Richter instantly appears in front of the agents and slams his hands on their faces. "Creep from the shadows; Nightmare!" A reddish energy emits from Richter and the agents as they scream at the top of their lungs. Once they stopped they fall to the ground looking at Richter. They could see dark spirits come from behind him that move around them like snakes. Richter and Sonic look at the agents; their eyes were wide open and they were screaming bloody murder. One agent was even foaming at the mouth.

"What did you do?!" Sonic asked

"Nothing big. Just gave them a small scare" Sonic sees Richter smiling while the agents were still screaming. "Oh please. Don't give me that look. Mother would do far worse to them. "

Chrome was looking at all the agents panting and kneeling down looking back at him, with his scythe glowing brightly "Good, my friends." He then points his scythe at them. "Your contribution will be more than appreciated!" He then disappears; the agents get up and look around. "Dance like the moon; Lumen shard waltz!" Chrome then reappears in front of an agent and swings his scythe. The agent then turns to dust in seconds with one more white light coming out from the ashes and fusing with the scythe Chrome continues swinging turning the agents to dust within seconds. When they were all taken down the more orbs of white light hover over to Chrome's scythe and merge with the white jewel on it making it glow brighter. "It's ready."

Ziggfreed looks at Chrome and Richter finishing of all the blue agents in one fell swoop. "How…how can they be so powerful!" He looks at the lens device on his head. The numbers were changing like crazy. "No! Even that blue hedgehog' s power is increasing at an alarming rate! AHHHH! Piece of junk!" He rips off the device and crushes it with his hand, but then he sighs while smiling. "This may work in my favor. Hear me, Solairte brothers! You think anything has changed? You're emerald will be mine!"

He then turns to Giessian who was looking at the battle, astonished. "Don't you stand there you, rotten hammock; finish off his sniveling crew mates! " Ziggfreed told Giessian

"Grrrrr….." Giessian growled while turning over to the dusk raiders.

"Ryan, can you and Dwayne handle him?" Richter asked

"uhhh, yes" Ryan said a little unsure

"Don't worry, the tides are turned now, thanks to the sun roof you've made" Dwayne said.

"Don't bother" Shadow walks up in between them holding his sword. "I can't stand the stench of this pig.

Giessian starts to laugh taking out a dark gem. He then looks at the large gaping hole in the ground leading to the underground foundry*. "All my work…my foundry it's all riding on this Gem!

(For those of you who did not read Orange dawn, or need a quick recap, under the palace is a large foundry where a green drug substance is being manufactured by Giessian. The hole is there from when Richter and Chrome instantly come out after sneaking in)

Giessian swallows the gem and jumps in the hole. "At last! Time to show you all….*wheeze* how powerful my drugs really are!" He falls in the pool of green goo as it starts bubble. "AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!" the entire ground starts to rumble.

"Oh no…" Richter and everyone else could feel the ground shaking like crazy. "6.7. Everyone! Get off the floor now!"

Sonic looks at Limrana hop out of the collapsed room. "Oh no you don't! Be a good frogy and come back here!"

"I'm coming too!" Amy comes up holding her hammer walking up to Sonic.

"Amy, are you crazy? Let me handle this. That frog is out of control!" Sonic said

"All the more reason for me to fight by you" Amy said while winking at Sonic "We'll take him out just like all the others"

Sonic looks at her face while nodding. "alright" Sonic jumps in the air and starts to fly with Amy.

The dusk raiders and Cramoisi run out of the building as the floor starts falling into the underground foundry. Most of the living blue agents didn't make it and fell in the bubbling toxic goo. Shadow, Richter and Dwayne, Ziggfreed were looking over the toxic goo. Richter was carrying Chrome, Dwayne was carrying Ryan.

"What the heck is going on?" Shadow asked Richter.

"Something's about to come out…something big. You'd better….."UHNNN!" Richter was interrupted by Ziggfreed who was grabbing him by the shoulders. "What do you want from me?!"

"You're life" he said throwing him and Chrome through the roof and into another part of the destroyed building. The very same building Sonic, Amy and Limrana was in. 

"Nice entrance" Sonic said laughing 

"Don't start with me!" Richter gets up and sees Ziggfreed hovering down on his craft.

"Look pal. Are we going to fight, or just here you talk again? Because if not, I want to go home. " Chrome swings his swords wildly. 

"Oh, you'll get your chance!" Ziggfreed slowly starts to transform. His body gets larger as it surrounds itself with cold hard steel. His tail gets longer growing a huge mace at the end, and finally two large ax swords form in his hand. "When this is over….i will claim that emerald and the little chimera"

Richter looks at Limrana hopping like crazy and giggling. "Ugh! Why did it have to be a frog!? I hate frogs!" 

"I'll take care of him. I've been waiting for a rematch." Sonic gets his sword ready. 

"Ziggfreed is mine then" Richter said looking at the scientist." I've been waiting for mine for a whole decade!"

"Iiiiiiiiit's Showtime!" Chrome said flying over to Richter.

"Let's finish this, Sonic!" Richter said

"Yeah!"

"Let's go Sonic!" Amy looks at Limrana as he was giggling and twitching.

_**(((Marrcoat Boss Battle: Limrana)))))  
>((((Robian General Boss fight: Ziggfreed))))))<br>BGM Time eater Ver. 1&2**_

_**(Sonic and Amy)**_

Sonic and Amy looks at the crazy frog ready to fight. Just as soon as Sonic even made the first step the frog instantly appears beside them and punches them both in the face while yelling awkwardly. He then grabs Amy and throws him at Sonic, knocking them both down, and jumps on them stomping vigorously and kicks them into a ruined wall. Sonic gets up with a black eye that was barely open. The frog appears beside Sonic and grabs him while looking at him with weird faces. Amy then walks up and tries to swing her hammer but was instantly stopped; the frog grabs the hammer with its foot and tosses it away and throws at her again. Sonic quickly gets up and runs over to the frog with his sword and swings it at him. The frog was dodging the moves by bending and twisting his body. When Sonic stops swinging, the frog giggles while sticking his tongue out, and punches him over and over and kicks him in the chest.

_**(Richter and Chrome)**_

Ziggfreed swings his weapons and glares at the brothers. "No matter what happens…that emerald will belong to ME!"

Chrome shakes his head. "Gosh this guys a broken record"

"He's about to be broke all over" Richter added

Both brothers disappear and reappear in front of Ziggfreed while swinging their weapons, but Ziggfreed block their attacks, and swings his tail at them throwing them back. "AHHH! That hurt my tailbone" Chrome whined.

"We got too cocky." Richter shakes his head, and charges at Ziggfreed. "Topinocha! " He points his blades at Ziggfreed firing a dark shot. Ziggfreed ducks out of the way, but then sees Richter kick him in the face followed by an uppercut. Both blades then form into one large rifle, and he points it at Ziggfreed. "Blast!" He shoots a large dark shot, but Ziggfreed regains balance avoiding the shot. Chrome was just about ready to strike him; he lifts his scythe that breaks apart forming back into two separate katanas. One was emitting a cool white mist while the other one was glowing bright cyan. But before he goes after Ziggfreed, he looks at Sonic who was dog-tired and the frog who was laughing while slapping his butt at Sonic. He quickly darts over to the frog and swings his misty sword at the frog freezing it from neck to toe.

"Yo, Sonic." Sonic looks up and Sees Chrome leaning on the frozen frog. From Chrome's hand came a shard of ice, he throws it down in front of Sonic. "Didn't Mom ever tell you about that new jema she gave you?"

"No! She didn't" he answered

"Give this frog a good bash out of the ice, before he breaks free." Chrome jumps out of the way

Amy runs up to the frozen Limrana and breaks him out of the ice. The frog was dazed and trying to stay balanced and keep his fighting pose. Sonic sees his chance and flies over and swings his sword at the frog leaving a big gash. The frog flies back screaming in pain while running around holding the wound.

"Sonic, touch the ice" Chrome ordered. The blue hedgehog nods and runs over and touches the ice with the same hand with his gauntlet. In an instant the gauntlet was now light blue and much larger than before. It was like having an ice shard for a gauntlet. He then looks at his sword that was also the same color.

"Whoa…." Sonic swings the sword and out came a frosty breeze that froze the ground.

"How is this possible?" Sonic asked

"The new Jema. When you touched the ice, it must have somehow absorbed it into itself" Amy guessed

"Bingo cupcake!" Chrome said flying back to Richter.

"That's how we beat it! Just like how Chrome froze it back in the jungle. It was afraid of the ice."

"Sweet!" Sonic said looking at the frog who was no longer smiling, but gives a desperate giggle.

Chrome turns his attention back to Ziggfreed and disappears while reappearing on top of Ziggfreed. He takes the both swords and looks down at Ziggfreed pushing him on the ground with incredible gravitational force. He then jumps down looking at his blades.

"I see…..each different weapon controls another element. Light when it's a scythe, ice and gravity when separate. All three when they are one big sword" He said to himself.

Ziggfreed gets back up still ready to fight. "Is that all? All that powering up and yet I'm still able to take you all on? Getting the emerald won't even take long."

"I'm just getting started" Richter said as both of his blades glow purple and change into two large hammers. "Now to level the playing field!"

"WHAAAAA!" The frog runs over to Sonic and Amy. Sonic jumps out of the way and flies in the air.

"HA! Can't get me now can ya?!" the frog growls and then jumps all the way to Sonic when he was already one-hundred feet in the air. "Aww come on!" the frog then punches him down and sends him back on the ground. Amy flies over to the frog, but he catches her before she had a chance to land a blow. The then throws her on Sonic again, while falling down on them hard. He jumps up and starts to create little bubbles of water in the air while throwing them at Sonic. Sonic and Amy try to avoid them, but Amy gets caught in one of them. Sonic's eyes widen as he sees Amy stuck in the water bubble unable to move, but the frog swings inside and starts punching her repeatedly. Sonic felt a little fear knowing that Amy was in water. He was hesitating while closing his eyes.

"Sonic help!" Amy managed to say.

Sonic opens his eyes and runs in while jumping in the water bubble fighting his way to pull Amy out. Somehow, he manages to pull her out leaving the frog inside. After pulling her out Sonic swings his sword at the bubble freezing it with the frog still inside. The ice bubble then shatters; the frog was now dazed again. Sonic runs up and swings at him three more times. The frog then kneels on his knees panting; Sonic walks up and holds his sword up.

Richter runs at Ziggfreed swinging his hammers with his large blades. As their weapons clash together they stare at each other while swinging at each other, both at an even match. Even while keeping a cool head, Richter glares at the scientist who grins at him knowing the hate he felt for him. "I must say, Richter" Both jump back and charge back at each other locking their weapons once more. "You are holding out much better than Rizen did. You are a much better opponent than Rizen ever was!"

"Don't you DARE say his name!" Richter shouted. "Unlike you, he fought with honor! " Richter backs up and swings at another angle, but let again clashes with the ax swords. "Anyone who fights a broken man, doesn't deserve praise!"

"So he lost his wife and his son disappeared; that is how life is!" Ziggfreed lifts his weapons and swings them downward at Richter, but Richter lifts his hammers blocking them. "If he could not pick himself up after such a tragedy, then he is not fit to be leader of anything!" Both were still evenly matched, not one was giving an inch. "He was a spoiled man, who didn't know the meaning of true pain! **Lady Luna's** death was perhaps the best thing that happened to him. And what did he do? Crawled under a rock, crying! UGHHH!"

Chrome appeared beside Ziggfreed and swung his sword tossing him back. "Utter her name one more time, and you're dead!"

"*cough* *cough*" Ziggfreed gets up picking up his weapons. "Despite of your transformation, you both still cringe at the very mention of your late parents. Even with all the power of the chaos emerald and the Cramoisi, you are still weak! YAHHHHH!" Ziggfreed lifts one of his weapons glowing bright red about to unleash another attack.

"WHATAAAAAAAA!" The frog makes a croak-like shout then all of a sudden from beneath their feet a large rock rises up from a dark and blue portal. Sonic was too occupied looking at the rock that he did not even see the frog kick him off the rock. Sonic looks up and sees that it wasn't a rock. On the bottom was a large head with four feet. The rock turned out to be a large turtle with black eyes and purple skin. The frog hops in front and points at Sonic. The large turtle withdraws in its shell and starts spinning while lunging forward at Sonic and Amy. Both of them get out of the way, before the turtle had a chance to hit them.

"That must be the Marcoat's guardian"

"Looks like…WHA!" Sonic turns around and sees Richter flying behind him.

"Ok look, this will be easy, just flip the turtle over somehow. Always works."

"How do we do that?!" Amy asked

"Hello….you can use earth. Just shake the….Uhhh!" Richter was then hit by a red energy ball.

"Flip it over…." Amy looks at her hammer and down at the turtle who continues to spin around hitting the walls. Amy then flies down with great force and slams her hammer on the pavement causing a small tremor, the turtle was still spinning around, and hits Amy causing her to hit the wall. "Well that didn't work…."

"Amy, you have to get closer!" Sonic said from above.

"What?!" Amy looks at the turtle ramming on anything near it. She gets up and flies at the turtle while it continues to hit the wall. She then slams the hammer on the turtle causing it to turn over and fall on its back. Sonic flies down at the frog and freezes it again.

"Time to make turtle soup!" Amy jumps in the air and slams on the turtles belly making a crack in its shell. She then throws her hammer at the frog knocking him on the head and breaking him from the ice. The frog feels dazed once more. Sonic was about to swing his sword, but the frog grabs the sword and throws Sonic into a fallen pillar. The frog then jumps back on the turtle's back as it starts to spin again.

"Could this get any more painful?" Sonic asked still pinned to the wall. From the bottom of the turtle he could see a row of spikes appear on the edge of its shell. "Now that's just random!"

Just as he was about to swing it down, Richter suddenly appears in front of Ziggfreed holding the ax sword with one hand.

He then looks at Ziggfreed with innocent eyes while laughing. "Now I understand."

"Understand what?!" Ziggfreed said annoyed

"All this talk about revolutionizing the new world, being a philosopher of technology, it's all a big cover for the real reason why you wanted our emerald."

"Now what, pray tell is that reason, dear brother?" Chrome instantly appears behind Richter laying on his shoulder.

Richter looks at growling scientist with a grin. "You're jealous, Ziggfreed."

"WHAT?!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"You heard him man! You're jelly with a side of toast!" Chrome laughed. "Wait, why is he jealous?"

"Think about it. Ever since he learned about us, he's wanted to get closer and closer to us trying to learn more about the eighth emerald, so he could have it all to himself. He did everything he could to get it, but failed royally. He failed 10 years ago, and he's failed now"

"Hey, yeah! And he also wants the power that both Alice and her bother possess. He said it himself he was nowhere near the caliber of her brother"

"You keep saying how great a scientist you are, but in reality Ziggfreed, all you want is power. Power that you will never could get your hands on. And you know something else?" Richter makes a bigger grin before saying this. "You never will" he whispered

The scientist was now much more vexed than ever, grinding his teeth together glaring at Richter who lets go of his weapon. "Did I strike a nerve? A good scientist can't even finish a knuckleheaded echidna? How pathetic?"

"OHHH BURN!" Chrome said.

"SHUT UP!" Ziggfreed changes his arm into a large arm cannon and fires it at Rcihter who jumps in the air flying.

"Yes, I can feel it…..I can feel your hate and rage. " Richter's body starts to glow red. "You're slipping, Ziggy!" He creates a fire ball and throws it at him, throwing him back. Richter zooms down and socks him in the face followed by a powerful kick. Ziggfreed tries to fight back with his ax sword, but Richter grabs it with his bare hands right before it hits him. He then punches the weapon shattering it to pieces.

"NO!" Ziggfreed drops his weapon as it was now worthless.

"DUDE! I didn't know you were that strong!" Chrome said holding his weapon. "Oh, you are so in for it now, Ziggy!"

"You won't win Solairte. YOU HEAR ME!"

Richter wasn't about to go down at all. He manages to see a weak spot, and swings his hammer at Ziggfreed's side breaking a part of his metal armor. "You destroyed my father's crew." He jumps back and rolls on the ground and hits Ziggfreed's knee causing him to lose balance. "You killed him in cold blood" Richter then jumps up and kicks him in the face. "You took his life, causing me to go out of control, killing all those innocent people, **including the one who helped you to betray my father**." Ziggfreed tries to look for Richter, but then sees Chrome jump in front of him swinging his sword. Both of them were fighting and crossing weapons with each other, Chrome eventually slashes Ziggfreed in his armored chest, and pushes him backwards. "The blood of those I killed are also on your hands as well as it is on mine!" Richter reappears in front of Ziggfreed. "You provoked that *little boy to wipe out an innocent village.(*Richter is referring to himself) All for your own selfish ambition. Do you feel even an ounce of guilt, pain, or sorrow for what you did; for all the lives you and I stole?"

Ziggfreed looks at Richter and Chrome and then smiles while laughing, which turns from a chuckle to a maniacal laugh. "You both must be weaker than I thought! Don't you see?! How can you make an omelet without cracking egs! You are just like your damn parents; they were too soft! And you two are just as weak! If you both stop to weep for every little life that's around you, then you will NEVER be strong! You are not worthy of holding the emeralds power!"

Chrome looks down and sighs. "I know the body can get robotozied, but it looks like the heart has now been closed off to all reality, bummer." He then holds up his blades.

"not the way I would put it" Richter then lifts his hammers. "Ziggfreed. I'm sorry. Actually, no I'm not. But you've chosen your path. I have no more remorse for you."

Zigfreed lifts his ax sword while pointing his arm cannon at them. "I don't want your pity. I want that damn eighth emerald! Odin's wrath!" A large gray cannon fires out of the arm cannon.

"Dude. I'm so tired of him going all DBZ on us!" Chrome said "Let's finish this so I can be with my lady!" Chrome's body starts to glow yellow as his swords glow brighter (left one ; white. Right one; cyan)

Richter closes his eyes channeling all of his energy. One of his hammers glows bright orange while the other bright purple, finally his body glows red-orange. "Your choice will cost you"

Amy runs up to the turtle and tries to hit it once more but is blow away. The turtle was now moving much faster than before. It was like looking at a fast hockey puck.

"You want speed? I'll give you speed" Sonic starts running around in a circle, big enough to trap the frog and turtle in a large vortex. The turtle stops spinning and slowly accents to the air until the tornado spins them around. The frog was screaming while holding on for dear life, but sadly he was blown off the turtle and was hurling in the air. As for the turtle, it falls on the ground on its back where Amy slams her hammer on its belly shattering the shell to pieces. Sonic sees the frog flying in the air, and throws his sword at the frog, impaling it in the chest.

"YAHHHHHAAAA!" the frog lets out one last frantic scream before hitting the ground. The turtle then shrinks while disappearing in a dark cloud.

Richter and Chrome put their weapons together as they start to emit a radiant light. "From Dusk to dawn" Chrome's body was glowing brighter.

"From Dawn to dusk "Richter's body was emitting dark energy.

"Chaos Twilight Strike!" The two of them dash forward right through the energy beam fired by Ziggfreed.

"What!? NOOOO!" Ziggfreed screamed as Chrome swings his sword repeatedly cutting his chest armor off, and was finished off by Richter who slams his hammer hard on Ziggfreed's abdomen making him cough up a puddle of blue blood.

Richter then knees him in the chin while jumping back looking at Ziggfreed as he was practically frozen in place with his head lowered.

"All...all...my hard work..." Ziggfreed falls on his kneels coughing up more blood.

Sonic walks up to the frog who was twitching with its eyes wide open.

"Now, who's the fastest thing alive?" Sonic asked while pulling out the sword.

The frog mumbles a little as if it was trying to speak "Y…yeee….you….are…the..fast…esst….ah…" the frog then croaks while sticking out his tongue.

"Whoa….wasn't expecting that. "

_**(((Marcoat Boss and Robian General; Bosses defeated))))**___

_**Sonic: that's how it's done.**_

_**Amy; now I really want turtle soup.**_

_**Chrome: and that's a wrap!**_

_**Richter: After ten long years**_

_**The fall of Ziggfreed; Rise of the blonde phoenix **_

Sonic looks at the Limrana frog shrink down and turn into a normal frog. The frog looks at Sonic while jumping out of fear and hopping away.

"Wow…. I actually feel kind of sorry for it" Amy said turning her hammer back into a jema.

"I can't believe it's still living" Sonic and Amy look at each other and laugh. "Well…we beat him"

"Yup!" Amy runs up and hugs Sonic.

"BUAHH!" the two hedgehogs hear a loud scream coming from the other side of the destroyed building, and walk over to see the two echidna brothers looking at Ziggfreed growling in pain.

Richter walks up and puts his hammer in front of his face. "It's over, Ziggfreed. I'll give you one last chance. Surrender and I'll ask the Cramoisi to give you mercy"

"And I'd take it if I were you…buddy boy" Chrome said pointing his sword at him as well.

Ziggfreed growls and then screams while picking up his ax sword and swinging at the brothers, but Richter grabs the weapon and kicks it breaking it to pieces. He then swings his hammer at Ziggfreed pushing him all the way out of the destroyed building. When he gets up he sees the Raiders and Cramoisi looking at him as well as the plantation up in flames.

"No…" he whispered while turning around seeing the four walk out of the building looking at the scientist.

"It's over. The Mazurians are free, your armies and the agents are defeated. I'm not going to repeat myself…." Richter points his hammer at the mad scientist.

"You…you fools!" Ziggfreed shouts at the top of his lungs. "Do you have any idea who I am?! I am the great researcher who will revolutionize this world! I will bring the power of chaos to its knees and control it with my own hand!"

"Wow…." Richter laughed. "_Now_ look who's lost his temper"

"SHUT YOUR BLOODY MOUTH RICHTER SOLAIRTE! I WILL KILL YO BOTH! THAT EMERALD WILL BE MINE!"

"Mine, mine, mine. Is that all what this guy has to talk about?" Chrome asked Richter

Ziggfreed swings his sword at Richter, but Richter just bends out of the way. He continues to swing his weapon at them screaming like crazy trying to hit the brothers and failing each time. "You haven't won! This battle is mine! I have the power, the strength, I am a superior being! Not you sad organic life forms!"

"This isn't fun anymore…." Richter said not even trying to avoid Ziggfreed's reckless attacks. "He's completely broken."

"*pant* *pant* *pant* YAHHHH!" He then turns his arm into a small cannon and tries to fire another laser but fails. The arm cannon didn't even power up. Chrome then comes up and swings the arm cannon clean off.

"Enough with the blasting, already. You've lost!" Chrome steps back avoiding another attack

"NO NO NO NO!"

"Boy, how the mighty have fallen" Sonic said flying down.

"Sonic….do you hear that?" Amy asked looking up

"Hear what?" Sonic looks up and can hear a loud screech from the sky. They both look up and see a large yellow and red bird flying in the sky. It was larger than anyone has ever seen. The bird had a long beak, two large white talons and orange and white wings with glowing gold eyes. "What is that?!"

"Yes…." Zigfreeed looks at the bird with a big grin. "Yes, YES! You are all doomed! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA! YOU FOOLS! Behold! What science can accomplish! Do you not see the might of my genius?! Now my creature, destroy them all! Give me the emerald that I so richly deserve!" Ziggfreed was shouting at the top of his lungs while laughing maniacally. The large bird lets out a powerful screech while looking at the brothers, but pays his attention to Ziggfreed. "No..no!"

The bird lands on of its talons on Ziggfreed trapping him. "No NO! WHAT ARE DOING! ATTACK THEM! NOT ME!"

"Ziggfreed" everyone could hear the bird speak. "You are no longer of any use to us"

"NO NO! I STILL NEED THE EMERALD! WE ARE SO CLOSE! FIGHT WITH ME AND WE SHALL HAVE IT!"

"Twelve years. It's been twelve years since you started this research and yet you still have not gotten the emerald. It's time we relieved you of your duties as head robian general."

"NO PLEASE! GIVE ME ONE MORE CHANCE! WE CAN DO IT TOGETHER!"

"You have failed us for the last time Dr. Ziggfreed.

"No…NOOOOO!" The bird opens it's mouth forming a large ball of fire and blows it at Ziggfreed. "NAAAOOO!" the fire engulfs him completely. The bird flies up looking at Ziggfreed burn and scream. Everyone looks in horror as they saw Ziggfreed's hand reach out but was soon taken over by the massive flames that burn his body to ashes within seconds.

The large bird comes down and glows bright yellow while shrinking. Sonic and Richter were looking at the bird turn into a human sized being. When he stops glowing, everyone was shocked to see that the bird turned into another robian. He had his back turned with his waist long blonde hair blowing in the breeze. His tail was longer than Alice's. He turns around slowly revealing his deep blue eyes. He was a young man with a white shirt and black pants

"He…he looks just like you!" Ty looks at Alice who was glaring at the young man.

"**Benedict…"** She said as her eyes were glowing red

"Alice" the young man said with an innocent voice. Alice continues to glare at him, with the fires still kindling behind him. "My dear sister. It is nice to see you again. I missed you so much."

"I…I missed you too…." She said softly

"Then why don't you come back? Be with your real family, and not these strangers?"

"Why? So _he _can lock me up again? Forget it! My mind hasn't changed. I'm never going back!"

The young man narrows his eyes while looking at Richter. "He's tainted your mind, sister. He is nothing like us; you belong with your own kind."

"He's more, than Ziggfreed or any of those scientists could ever dream to be. You have no idea what they would have done to me if I'd stayed!"

"That isn't true..." Benedict turns around and sighs.

"Tell me…..how…how did you change into that bird just now? Is that…could that be the ultimate level that Ziggfreed spoke of?"

Benedict turns around and brings out his hand. "I can show you how, just abandon this foolish criminal and come home with me"

Alice looks down in thought while shifting her eyes. She then nods her head. "No. I'm not going back to that mad man. I want you to come back to me"

Benedict closes his eyes. "Then my sister is truly lost to me. Richter Solairte. It seems this day is yours. As for you Chrome Luniar, Ziggfreed did everything he could to get you both to trigger your rage, even stoop so low as to lie"

"What….what are you talking about?" Chrome asked

"Do you honestly think that something such as a low class fighter was able to kill your mother? It was a setup"

"Say what?!"

"Though I have no idea of who your mother's true murder was, know that he's still at large. Ziggfreed let his ambitions take control of him. He has destroyed lives, broken families, and even used deception and deceit, to get what he wanted. That's why he had to meet his end. If you won't come back to me, sister, then my work here is finished." From his back came two large wings the same color as the birds. "Farewell" He jumps in the sky and flies off.

"So….mother's killer….wasn't the lizard after all" Chrome whispered "then who was it?"

"Benedict…." Alice turns around with her head hanging down.

"Are you…Ok" Ty asked

"Yes….I…I'm fine." She said in sad tone

"but Alice you…"

"I SAID I'M FINE!" Alice shouted at Ty. She then gasped while walking up to Ty and hugging him. "I'm…sorry….I just miss him…."

"Why didn't you go with him?" Richter asked "I mean…he is your blood brother."

"I know. But you are my real family now. I know one day he'll see that. I just know it" Alice comes up and hugs Richter as he pats her back.

"That's my girl" he said while hugging her.

_**Vanish from sight….**_

The entire fire from the crop was snuffed, the foundry was dried up and the building was in ruins. Everyone looks at the ruined plantation from a distance.

"This nightmare is finally over" said Toby looking. He then turns around with a smile on his face. "I had you guys all wrong. I can't thank you enough for all you've done. "

"Oh, now he thanks us" Tawny sighed

"Another criminal lord taken down" Amy said smiling.

"You two criminal lords, right Richter? Richter?" Sonic looks for the orange echidna and sees him looking over a cliff with Chrome.

"You alright, bro?" Sonic asked walking up. Looking at Richter. It remained quiet as he looks at the echidna brothers looking at the black sun slowly disappearing.

"So much has changed in so little time" Richter said calmly. "At first I was this crazy knuckle head pirate. And now….I….I wonder if I'll be the same again…."

"Richter…." Sonic looks at him clench his fist.

"I know how you feel….this is all too….huh" Chrome starts glowing bright yellow as did Richter.

"He's fighting back….heh…." they both whispered

"Guys, what's happening?" both brothers turn to Sonic and Shadow.

Chrome just smiles and pulls on his large ripped up scarf. "Shadow, thanks for the scarf, it helped out a lot."

"What?" Shadow wondered "How did you know about my…"

"Sonic" Richter looks at the blue hedgehog. "Thank you for finding me…." They both glow even brighter until everyone shields their eyes. When the glowing stopped they both look at the echidna brothers. They look in surprise to see that their Cramoisi features were gone. Both brothers look exactly the way they were before the change. (in their normal clothes)

"Daddy!" Alice runs up to Richter to check his pulse.

"Is he alright?" Sonic asked Alice checks Chrome's pulse and looks back at Sonic.

"I don't believe it….both of them still have a pulse….they were both dead a minute ago….."

"Ok…now I'm _really _confused!" Zenith said

"They are both fine, just knocked out" Ty said.

"Let's take them both back to the ship" Sonic said

_**Secret Marks**_

Everyone made their way back to the ship. Jayden and Zeke were carrying Richter and Chrome to the lounge room. The two for them sat them on separate couches. Alice walks up to Richter and felt his head and chest. "Oh daddy…."

"I don't get it. Why did they change back?" Knuckles asked

Sonic looks at everyone with his Cramoisi sense. He could see the webs of vines in everyone and their color. He looks at the brothers and could see two different webs. While all the other Cramoisi webs were purple, Richter's was orange while Chrome's was cyan. "Mmmm…." Sonic's vision returns to normal while looking back at Knuckles.

"I can see their blood signature now. It's different from what we've seen before." The blue hedgehog answered

"Blood signature?" Zenith wonder "What are you guys talking about?"

"Cramoisi have this ability where we can read the blood of any living creature. "Silver explained

"A normal mortal's signature can be either bright or dark red. A child's signature can be dark blue." Blaze added

"And many of the criminals and demons we faced off against have blood as black as coal, or grey depending on how evil they are"

"So…what's my blood signature?" Zenith asked "I bet its dark red, or maybe blue."

"Actually, we can't get a reading on any of you dusk raiders" Amy said

"Whaaaaaat? Yet you could read them? What's their color?"

"Richter's is orange, and Chrome's is light blue. Two signatures we've never seen. The other signature is purple, which represents the Cramoisi.

"So….maybe they are a **different kind** of Cramoisi…." Rin-Rin suggested

"What are you talking about?" Sonic asked

"Well, you said that you only look at the colors, blue, red, black and grey when you look at mortals right? And you look at a different color when you look at someone who is amongst your own, and…you also said you couldn't read our signature…but since the incident last night and the fact that we saw them as Cramoisi, and the fact that they are normal now we can see that…."

Rin-Rin stops for a minute….."Uhhhh…see what….what was I saying…."

"Gah!" some of the Cramoisi and raiders did an anime fall.

"Rin-Rin! Focus! What can we conclude about them now that they were Cramoisi, and changed back to mortal?" Onyx encouraged

"Uhhhh….." Rin-Rin squints her eyes trying to remember. "maybe they are…..different…Cramoisi….somehow…."

"**Different…Cramoisi…?" ** Onyx repeated

"But I don't know why the cramoisi can't read our signature. That doesn't make any sense…" Rin-Rin finished. "Maybe our signature just takes time read…"

"Or maybe we are destined to become Cramoisi ourselves!" Zenith starts to fake cry. "Don't you see? It's a conspiracy! We are bound to become Cramoisi!"

The room was silent, as everyone was staring at Zenith's theatrical episode. "I'm hungry…." Scarlet walks out of the room.

"Everything's normal and is working" Alice said looking at Richter "A heart beat….pulse…nothing out of the ordinary"

"The same thing with Chrome" Ty stated.

"So…if they are Cramoisi...then what about…..WAHHHH! What has that drunk vampire done to my baby sister?!"

"And Lila's not out here either….Where are they?" Rin-Rin wonder

"And Charmy missing too" Espio stated

"My…my sister….they…they must be Cramoisi now. It's already started …..my poor Mercury…..she's now a walker of the night! Noooooooooo!" Zenith starts fake sobbing. "I guess…there is only one thing left to do….." He crawls over to Silver and pulls down his scarf. "Bite me, pipsqueak. Bite me so that I may join you and our sister in the army of the undead. It's for the best for our family…and its best for...AH!" Zenith gets hit with a melon, and fell to the ground knocked out. Silver turns and sees Scarlet with a large bowl of fruit.

"Dude was giving me headache" she said biting into an apple.

"What about the claw mark?" Amy shows everyone the Cramoisi claw mark on her arm. "If they have this then they are definitely Cramoisi"

"Can't hurt to look"

"Ahhh!" Alice gasped. "D-D-Daddy's arm! S-S-Something's on it!

"Ha! See I knew it!" Amy gloated

"No….it's something else! I've never seen it before in my life…."

Sonic walks up to Richter and moves his sleeve. His eyes widen as he looks at what was on his arm. He then looks at Richter's face while opening up one of his eyes and sighing in frustration.

"_What did mother do to you? " _He thought

"So…what is it?" Tails started "What did you see?"

Sonic looks at his two tailed chum worried.

"See for yourselves" he said as he lifts the sleeve once more, showing Richter's arm to everyone. Everyone gasped at the very sight of what they saw or Richter's arm. They all looked at the dusk raider sun tattoo. The sun on his arm that was normally bright orange was now split into two sides; one bright orange and the other dark purple.

"It's….it's like the start of an eclipse…." Amy said. "Just like the one outside"

"Hey guys!" Look at Chrome's arm!" said Ty as he showed the white Echidna's arm. Instead of one full blue moon there where two full moons, one blue moon and one white moon.

"Scarlet…." asked Silver "Do your tattoos look like that normally?"

"No" she answered while trying to make Zenith come to. "Not that I know of, they would never look like that. Not even the Captains"

"So... Don't Cramoisi have the mark of a spiral claw on their arms on the same spot as the tattoos?" asked Onyx

"Yeah" Tails said uncovering his sleeve reviling his mark.

"Then it's NOT coincidental!" Zenith instantly gets up while holding his head ."Don't you SEEEEE? They did something to them, those captain changing charlatans!"

"Well Big DUH!" said Jem

"Unless they ran to the tattoo pallor when none of us were looking!" Scarlet chuckled.

"What's going on?" Everyone turned and saw Lila and Mercury walk in the room. Mercury was holding her head wearing a night gown while Lila was wearing a black bra and her normal pants. "When did you guys get back?"

"Merc? Lila?" Zenith walks up and holds her by the shoulders. "You….YOU'RE STLLL ALIVE! Halleluiah!" He grabs her and hugs her tight. "Don't you dare scare me like that again! You hear me?! Do you hear me?! Do you hear me?!"

"Uhhh! It's good to see you too Zenith! Now let me go! I have a massive headache! " said Mercury trying to wiggle free.

"You don't feel cold. You're completely warm! So... you two aren't Cramoisi? You….*sniff* *sniff* Why do you smell like alcohol, sis? Have you been drinking?!"

"A little…." Mercury said meekly.

"Richter!" shouted Lila as she ran up to him "What happened?"

"Well you see…." Sonic explains what happened after the last few hours. Lila and Mercury's expressions were all in bewilderment and amazement.

"Wow! Amazing! So Richter's Ok?" Lila starts rubbing her hand on his head.

"He's fine. He just fell unconscious along with Chrome" Ryan explained

"Did Richter tell you something thing about turning into a Cramoisi, Lila?" asked Amy

"N-No, I'm just as surprise as you are" she said in a soft tone "I just wanted to see more anime with him. That's when Silver showed up and then Richter dressed up and took off"

"The same thing with Chrome" Mercury said "We were…going to have another drink and then Blaze showed up"

"And what exactly were you two doing?!" Zenith taps his foot

"Nothing! Just…drinking…."

"Drinking and what?!"

"Relax, Zenith" Silver said holding his shoulder. "If they did anything extra, I'd know about it, trust me."

"You guys can do that?" Jem asked

"Yup. So you better not be bringing any one on the ship unless you plan to be with them"

Everyone starts to hear grunting coming from one of the echidna brothers. They turn around and see Richter slowly trying to get up. Richter cracks his eyes open and got up from the couch and reached his arms out.

"AHH!" everyone gasped as they saw Richter slowly creep over to Nai.

"He's going for his first victim!" said Zenith

"Awwww! How come Nai gets to go first?" whined Jem.

"No wait! I'm too young and handsome!" warned Nai as he put his hands over his head.

Richter was walking over to Nai with his hands reaching out, moaning and mumbling under his breath.

"NO! Take me instead!" Rin-Rin said as she stood in front of Nai.

He slowly walks over to the two and walks past them.

"Huh?" the both said they saw him go for the refrigerator. He then opens it up.

"He's reaching for his interments of Torture!" said Zenith "UGH!"

Scarlet had thrown another fruit at him. "You're welcome"

Richter gets out a small bucket. He opens it up and digs a spoon in it and eats it up. Still half asleep he was slowly eating the frozen cream. As he was eating, everyone in the room did an Anime fall.

"Ice cream?!" shouted Tawny grabbing him giving him a cold stare. "Are you serious?!"

Richter looks at her angry gaze with his blank stare and keeps eating.

"YOU LUNKHEAD!" Tawny bonks Richter on the head, knocking him down, but he gets up and continues to eat.

"How can he still eat that?" asked Rouge

"He is Richter after all" said Sonic

Richter looked at his spoon and throws it in Tawny's face.

"AAHHHH! Frozen fairy germs!" She screamed as she throws the spoon. Richter takes the pail and engulfs the entire thing; after that he yawns while falling asleep. Tawny grabbed him by his vest and shook him. "WAKE UP YOU BUM!"

"HHHRRMMMMMEERRMEEERRR MEERR!" He mumbled as he was still asleep.

"Stop Tawny! Yelled Jazz "Put him down!"

Mmmmrrreemmrenn CHEERY TOPS" Richter mumbled "ice cold, warm, toasty, warm cold frozen mmmmmmm…"

"Sounds like the description of something sweet, or something." Said Onyx

"Get up you freak!" Tawny then throws him at Rin-Rin, knocking her down.

"Wha-ha! What Whzzat? AWWWW! What's going on?" Richter asked as he was coming to his senses.

"uuuuuuhhhhhhhh…." Rin-Rin moaned rubbing her head.

Richter looked at what was moaning. He saw that he was on top of Rin-Rin. "OH NO! Not again! Rin-Rin, talk to me! Come on!" Richter said as he was softly shaking her. Rin-Rin was slowly rocking her head back and forward. "Rin-Rin?"

"Capt….ain? What Happened?" Rin-Rin asked in a dazed tone.

"I guess some things never change." chucked Ryan.

"Richter?" Sonic walks up to him "Are you…mean how are you feeling?"

Richter looked at Sonic with his garnet eyes squinting. "Sonic? Where are ya? I can see ya!"

"Here" Nai said handing him a comb. Richter's hair was still covering his eyes. He takes the comb and uses it. At the same time Chrome was waking up rubbing his head.

"Uhhhhh…. Mmmm…. What? AHHHH!" Chrome was holding his head while gritting his teeth.

"Chrome! You're awake!" Mercury exclaimed.

"Ohh, please don't speak so loudly. My head is killing me" Chrome said rubbing his temples.

"And your eyes, their Turquoise?"

"What are you talking about? Of course they are. They've always been"

"Ahhh that's better" Richter said getting up and helping Rin-Rin up. "So are we all ready for us to take on Giessian?" Everyone but Chrome stared at Richter with concerned and confused eyes. "Why's everyone staring?" Richter asked in a curios tone.

"You don't remember?" asked Sonic in the same tone

"Remember what?" Richter asked while sitting down and eating chocolate.

"Come on! And I thought Rin-Rin was a dim bulb!" whined Zenith

"HEEEYYY!" Rin-Rin gets up while glaring at Zenith.

"Richter, are you saying you don't remember you and Chrome taking down Ziggfreed?" asked Amy

"What?! Ziggfreed?! Where is he now?!" Richter summons his hammers ready to fight. "I'll throttle him!"

"You already did!" Ty said "You two beat him to a pulp and he was destroyed by this big fire bird that turned out to be Alice's twin brother"

"What?!" Chrome wondered.

"Riiiight…" Richter twirls his hammer. "And my real name is Lloyd Irving"

"Actually Richter your real name is…"

"ZIP IT!" Richter covers Chrome's mouth before he could say anything.

"Richter, are you joking?" Tawny asked walking up and grabbing him. "You don't remember going all crazy on those guys, killing them, like a deranged animal?"

"Mmmmmmm…nope…not a thing…"

"Me neither…." Chrome stated. "I can….I can remember Zerach…biting me….and bits and pieces…of what happened today. I was drunk….Mercury…..ahhhhh….nothing…"

"I remember Lila and I about to watch anime…..but…." Richter looks at Lila looking at her. "Oh Lila…" Richter walks up and puts her hand on her face. "You….you look adorable"

"Oh…" Lila blushes while giggling.

"but you're not wearing your sweater. You can't come out with just a bra on"

"Oh…I was just so hot...and…huh" Richter puts his hand on Lila's forehead. He then closes his eyes as his hand and Lila start to glow orange. In an instant, Lila was wearing a white shirt and a green vest with black pants. She along with everyone else stares in shock as she was instantly wearing something different.

"There. That should do it." Richter kisses Lila on the forehead while turning around.

"Ok…did he just manifest clothes for her….or am I seeing things?" Knuckles asked

"Ok that's it!" Tawny pins Richter on the ground. "You're hiding something! You're a Cramoisi right?!"

"Me?! A Cramizami…." Richter laughs while pushing her off. "That's a load of bunk"

"You just manifested clothes for Lila. A trick only a Cramoisi can do! And what about the mark on your arm?!"

"What are you talking aaaaaaahhhhh!" Richter looks at his arm and sees the new mark on it. "AHHH! It's all orange and purple and glowy!"

"This is strange…." Chrome said looking at his tattoo. "I definitely do strange things when I'm drunk, but this is much different…."

"You don't remember anything?" Amy asked the brothers. Both of them look at each other and back at Amy while shaking their heads.

"You truly don't remember do you?" Everyone heard a familiar voice. "I'm a bit surprised captain that you of all people would forget something so recently."

"Mother?" Sonic looks around trying to find Darcy. "Where are you?" he then sees a bat circling around him and around Richter. The bat was glowing purple as it lands on the ground, and turns into Darcy.

"Mother….what are you doing here?" Amy asked

"I'm not here" the purple bat answered "What you see now is a mere vassal of my own design, a phantom if you. The real Darcy is still at the castle getting ready to leave for **Megalo Station."**

"So…you're like a hollow projection?" Richter comes up and tries to touch her, but Darcy grabs his hand softly. "Whoa…"

"Though I am a phantom, I am still quite solid"

"That is so cool!" Sonic complemented "But…why are you here? Or...not here…or why is your phantom here?"

"I figured you all needed an explanation to Richter and Chrome's condition, so a part of me stayed behind so I can tell you that both Richter and Chrome are in fact Cramoisi"

"What?!" Everyone exclaimed

"You…you're kidding right?" Richter looks at the phantom Darcy walk over to him and touch his head.

"My word, Richter. You've used a lot more force than I had anticipated. Zerach said I may have given you a little too much of my blood. Perhaps he was right…"

"Wait…you gave me blood…to drink…..EWWW!" Richter nearly gaged.

"Ah…there we go…." Darcy's phantom's fingers start to glow. Richter's eyes widen as he could feel all his memories come back to him. Chrome's eyes were also widen as he was instantly remembering everything that had happened form last night up until now.

"I…remember" Richter said slowly. "Ziggfreed is dead; I turned into a Cramoisi and beat him."

"I…I remember too" Chrome takes out his sword and sees that it was a Katana once again. "My weapon was different too…"

"But…if I am a Cramzee….why are Chrome and I still breathing?"

"Because you and your brother are a different kind of Cramoisi"

"Whaaaaaatt" both brothers jump back.

"HA! In your face, Zenith!" Rin-Rin gloated

"Indeed. What Rin-Rin said is not too far off the mark."

"So they are mortal Cramoisi?" Sonic asked

"They are no longer mortal. Long ago my mother once told stories about another breed of Cramoisi that acted as agents in the darkness, and servers of the light."

"I thought you said that's how all Cramoisi are" Amy asked

"Ah, but there are some Cramoisi who cannot even step into the sunlight, nor can they get close enough to the true evil beings who torture people for their own desires. Thus we need someone to act as if they are one of these thieves and killers, so that they may expose them for who they are. And these two fit that description quite perfectly"

"A criminal to destroy evil from the inside….." Sonic looks at the brothers. "And you chose them to do it?"

"I knew that they both had the potential and the desire to end this mafia, but they needed our help to do it. " Darcy continued "However, we needed them too. If Zerach and I simply turned them into normal Cramoisi, they would help us, but it would be a hindrance to their objective. That is when I thought of the story of the different breed that my mother told me of. Of course **there were other kinds of Cramoisi** that may have been suited for them. But this one in particular can only be born from a Solar eclipse; the time and place of the black sun. The name of this breed is** Crepuscule** (crep-u-skool) **Cramoisi.**

"Crepu..wha…" Richter scratches his head.

"Are there really other kinds of Cramoisi?" Sonic asked

"Yes, Some who need not consumption of blood, some that would not have wings, some without remorse for those they kill, even some who can step in sunlight, but not have the full power of a Cramoisi. However, they would still share the same weakness to Nth metal. "

"Why haven't I seen them?" Sonic aksed

"Eventually, there will come a time when other breeds will be awakened, but let us just focus on the Crepuscule. Crepuscule are Cramoisi can step into sunlight and appear mortal, however because they are Cramoisi they will still have the same nature as one. You were not turned into Cramoisi like Sonic and the others, yet you still relate to them in more ways than one."

"Just like what you did with Omega" Shadow pointed out.

"Correct, but their transformation would take much longer than normal, due to the effects of the solar eclipse, which explains the….strange behavior you and your brother were displaying"

"You were watching this entire time…" AMY Concluded "Wait…does this mean you've been watching us ever since we started this voyage?

"What kind of mother leaves her children unsupervised?" Darcy winks at Amy

""How strange exactly?" Chrome asked still rubbing his head.

"You've exceeded Richter in the definition of weird" Onyx said

"Wonderful…." Chrome said sighing.

"Eh, who cares" Mercury comes up and hugs him. "You were lots of fun, you know for a drunken guy" She kiss him on the cheek, not knowing that Zenith was glaring at them both.

"That's kind of sweet…kind of…." 

"So you created a new breed, through the solar eclipse?" Tails asked. "But hold on…I thought the poison kills the body the moment someone takes it"

"It would have, if Mother Darcy had given me the poison" Richter answered

"Correct…that is why Richter drank a sample of my blood" Darcy stated "After I took some of Richter's blood, he took some of mine. And Zerach, gave some his blood to Chrome. It was all part of the reincarnation process; the blood goes into the system, and certain situations allow the victim to change into the Cramoisi that fits their nature. Rather it be a lonely heart looking for love, a just heart looking for justice, or a dark heart that wishes for repentance. In Richter's case, his heart was once empty, dwelling in darkness, all he wanted was to run away from it,

"I thought I could run away from it my past….but when those lizards came and told everyone of my past, it came back to haunt me…."

"But rather than running away from it, embrace your dark side. If you continue to run away from it, you'll never stop, that is why you must face your demons and conquer them, and Sonic and I gave you the power to do so"

"The blood shadow…."

"What about me?" Chrome asked

"You Chrome, have the needs to be a true leader, and brilliant fighter. But in your life you doubted yourself, you felt like you needed help with every challenge you came across.

"That brown lizard….he...he made me think of things that reminded me of who I was….a scared little boy always crying for his mother…hearing about her demise made me so mad."

"I'm sure your mother was a proud and brave warrior who raised his son right. She would not want you to call on her when she thinks that you can fight for yourself. When you lost faith in yourself, you lost control. But Zerach and Shadow helped you get it back.

"The light reaper is the technique Zerach showed me. The only way for the power to be awaken was for me not to be so strict and let my spirit go"

"Is that why you acted like a total loon?" Tawny asked

"No…that was the alcohol…"

"I told you not to drink too much" Richter stands there with his hands behind his head and eyes closed. "There was this one time where he drank so much that Chrome took his shirt and pants off and.."

"Richter!" Chrome shouts at his brother warning him not to say another word, but he starts laughs.

"So my children, in short, the echidna brothers are one of you. There relation with you and them is no different than a fox and a dog; same family different breed.

"Wait….if we are Cramos….are we…you know...dead?"

"In mortal's eyes, it is crucial to be deceptive so that they do not see your true colors, so to them you are still living, but amongst your own, you are no different than Sonic."

"in other words, your dead to those of the Cramoisi, but alive to those who are not." Zenith concluded.

"You were right Zenith…." Mercury said

"My God, that's a first!"

"So…my daddy really is dead…." Alice asked hugging him

Richter looks at Alice with sad eyes. "it happened when….the general killed me….and the poison killed Chrome…."

"That was the final step in the process; an untimely demise." Darcy continued "The blood can change you, but it cannot kill you, thus it was the only way you and your brother could change.

"Then I want him to change me too!" Alice said "I don't care if I die….I don't want him to face this alone!"

"Forgive me child, but the eclipse has already passed, you cannot change."

"But…"

"He can however, poison people and make him the same breed, so can you Chrome"

"Alright." Zenith gets up lifting his hand. "Everyone get in line, just like we planned. Richter can bite Lila and Chrome and Bite my sister and…wait….are they Cramoisi?"

"What is wrong with you?" Mercury slaps her face sighing.

"No" Richter answered. "I don't want to change anyone. I don't want you to go through the same thing I'm going through. If they do, they might go all psycho too. I can't do that to you guys."

"Looks like someone's been reading your books, Merc" Nai laughed

"That may be the right thing to do at this point, Richter" Darcy said. "This breed wasn't around during my ruling, so I do not know…." Darcy's voice starts to fade, as did she.

"Wait! What's going on?!" Richter said "Can I bite people or not?!"

"Remember this you two, do not bite anyone until I can learn more about this." 

"Come on….you turned us into this breed and don't even know much about it?!" Richter was freaking out.

"I'm sorry children, my phantom's time has run out…." The phantom said slowly fading away. "Farewell, I will see you all again" the phantom turns back into a bat and flies out the window.

"A vampire bat using bats to do her biding, strange don't you think?" Scarlet asked

"Yup" Rouge agreed.

"Well for what it is worth, welcome to the family Richter and Chrome!" Knuckles said

"And to welcome you, here's a blood core!" Julie hands them both one.

"Noooo….I can't!" Richter said looking at it. "Me no like blood…."

"Quit being picky and just eat it, ya moron!" Tawny grabs it while forcing it in his mouth.

"Mo mo Mi cacg (No, no I can't)" Richter takes the whole thing in his mouth and swallows it. "Blech…ew ew ew…that…..that…..that was actually good….like….like eating a cherry pie with ice cream…..or…or a red velvet cake with cheesecake icing and cherries on top!"

"Not the way I see it" Tawny stated.

Chrome also took a bite from it. "it taste like blood, yet it feels like drinking something else…"

"I don't care what Darcy says" Alice walks up to Richter and holds him by the shoulders. "I don't want you to go at this alone…..can you….at least change….me…" Alice's voice starts to slow down.

"What's wrong?" Richter asked

"I…must have….used…too much power...my cell….is…" Alice's eyes widen and turn gray, and she falls on the ground not moving.

"Alice!" Ty runs up to her picking her up.

"Her power cell is dead" Richter takes her from Ty. "I'll take her back to the room" Richter walks out of the lounge room and into the elevator.

"Well….uh….so what do we do now?" Knuckles asked

"Well the strong hold is taken down, let's take care of the Gaia Gate" Amy suggested

"Well I know that. I mean like what about the village that was destroyed?"

"Yeah….about that…." Sonic said slowly

_**The third Gaia Gate. **_

Moments later some Cramoisi and Raiders was at the destroyed village, but to their surprise…..

Knuckles looked around the village and saw the people walking around like normal. "It's….."

"The village is back to normal." Tails stated "How…."

"Shadow and I came over last night and turned back the clock using Chaos Control." Sonic said

"Then how come you didn't turn it back far enough to the point before everyone was captured?" Knuckles asked

"We can only go back so far" Shadow added

"Sonic! Shadow!" both hedgehogs turn around and see Toby and Lori walk into the village.

"What have you two been doing?" Amy asked with her hand under her chin.

"Uhhh…nothing….Toby was just showing me his parents' graves, is all" Lori answered

"uh-huh" Amy nods while giggling.

"I have never seen everyone so happy before" Toby looks around the village. "You guys have done so much for us. Thanks to you, my people no longer have to live in fear of Giessian"

"It was our pleasure, Toby" Chrome bows in front of him.

"I actually kind of miss you being drunk" Sonic laughed.

"Yes…please don't ever bring that up…" Chrome had a sweat drop on his face.

"So, what will you do now?" Toby asked Lori.

"Yeah, what are we going to do now?" Lori asked Sonic

"After we seal the Gaia gate, we're going to Megalo station" Sonic answered.

"You're not staying?" Toby asked with a sad tone.

"Sorry, but we got to keep moving. Why?"

"Oh nothing….uhhh hey, you're heading to the Gaia gate? Then you should head over to the citadel"

"But, we need to find a cathedral like building" Sonic said "That's the place where all the spawn are coming out of."

"I know" Toby confirmed. "It just so happens that the cathedral is a big part of the citadel. You might say that citadel _is _the cathedral"

"Well that makes things easier" Sonic smiles at the others.

"So that means that the dark circle is located in the center of the citadel" Tails explained

Toby turns to the horizon and sees the sun setting. "Wow…nightfall already….." As he gazed at the sun setting he didn't noticed the dark gaia spawn appearing below him. Lori just barely stares at the purple shadow below Toby, and the creature coming out. She quickly pushes him away from the shadow, but then feels something faze through her body.

"Lori!" Sonic and Toby quickly run up to her as a dark shadow emits through her body.

Tails and the others look around and see some of the villagers slowly walk over to them, like Zombies.

"I liked it better when they were acting like robots…." Knuckles said

"Oh no…this is the same as the night before…..Lori?" Toby looks at Lori who had her head down while getting up.

"Toby….I….I have to tell you…" She spoke in a low tone…." I…I like you…."

"Wha..what?" Toby was in a state of shock.

"No! I love you!" she blurted out making Toby jump back.

"Didn't expect that…." Sonic looks at Lori drawing her sword and lifting her face; she looks at them with a smiling face and soulless eyes.

"**Meh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh!" **She laughed darkly looking at Toby. **"I love you..so much it hurts!" **She jumps at them both swinging her sword.

"Oh snap!" Sonic quickly jumps back from Lori after just barely missing her sword. "I thought Amy was crazy."

"I heard that!" She said getting out her hammer

"Wait! Don't hurt her! She's just possessed!" Tails said

"This ain't for them or Lori…." Amy looks at Sonic.

"Not a good time, Amy!" Knuckles was pushing back some villagers.

Lori looks at Toby smiling and giggling. "**What's wrong, Toby? Don't you want to give me a hug?" **

"Lori…." Toby summons his spear and gets into position. "I don't want to hurt you…."

"**I don't want to hurt you either….." ** Behind her came two more spawn from the shadows ready to strike. "**Join us…..and we can be together forever…"**

"I…I…no. I won't do it….not if it means being possessed."

"**So…." **Her eyes start to well up** "You don't love me?" **

"Well…I…" Toby was stammering trying to say the right words.

"**If you don't like me….THEN DIE!" **Lori jumps at Toby with her sword, Toby blocks the attack. The two of them start going all out at each other. Lori was going crazy swinging her sword while Toby was blocking the attacks.

Sonic looks at the possessed villagers and steps back. He then remembers what he did back in Alpotos. He jumps at one and runs his claw through his chest, while pulling out the dark Gaia spawn, and draining it dry. The villager falls while losing consciousness. Fortunately there were no cuts or gashes.

"You…you brought out the spawn?" Chrome asked

The others start doing the same with the other villagers, but there were so many it was hard to get them all. Soon Tails and Amy were being dog piled on ten of the villagers. "Sonic we're over run!"

"At this rate they will have us beat before we learn of the location of the Gaia gate" Chrome said pushing back villagers with his gravity.

Toby and Lori were still going out at each other.

"**Hee hee hee hee" ** She giggles knowing how Toby was getting tired after being attacked relentlessly. **"If you're tired now, just you wait until we do it over and over! We can do it now…just take everything off…. "**

"Stop talking like that! You're still a teenager!" Toby keeps blocking the attacks feeling more and more tired each blow. Suddenly Lori was being held back by Chrome using his power. "Captain?"

"I've got her, Sonic!" Chrome said

"Wait….I have an Idea…." Toby transforms his spear into a flute. He then starts to play a soothing melody. Lori's eyes widen listening to the song. She then starts screaming while dropping her swords, covering her ears, as well as the villagers.

"**AHHHHHHHHH! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" **she screamed desperately.

"The flute…..is affecting them…." Sonic looks at the possessed villagers suffering from the song played by Toby.

"Of course…..sound Jema are still considered a weapon. It's the same thing that happened back in the jungle with that lion…" Sonic and the others pull out the rest of the spawn freeing the villagers from possession.

"Try it Chrome" Amy said "You're one of us now, right?"

"Oh…let me try it." Chrome walks up to the possessed Lori and runs his hand through her back, but for some reason as he tries to pull it out he wasn't able to pull it out completely. It was hardly half way out showing it's legs. Lori then gets up and pounces on Chrome. Her eyes still have that soulless gaze.

"**Naughty naughty…..sensei…..getting fresh with a student…but I don't mind…you and Toby can do whatever you want with me."** Lori giggled while laying her head on Chrome's chest. **"My body is all yours…."**

"Who knew there was a slut under all that sweetness….Snap out of it Lori this isn't you!" Chrome tries to get up, but Lori was pressing too hard on him. He wanted to use gravity, but for some reason something was holding him back. It was as if **Lori was answering with a gravity attack of her own**.

"**AHHHH!"** Lori could hear the music from Toby. She then turns to him and runs right at him.

"Hey miss!" Lori turns around and sees Chip floating up to her. "Smile!" He brings out his camera and flashes it in his face.

"**AHHHHH!"** The spawn comes jumping out screaming. Chrome quickly jumps at it killing it.

"Thank you, Chip" Chrome said

"No prob!" he said flying back to Sonic.

Toby sighs in relief and walks over to Chrome. "There is an article in Solairte lore about jema having the power of sound via musical instrument. Somehow, your jema has the power to soothe the savage beast."

"Of course" Toby said nonchalant "My father would play it to the lions. That's how he gained their trust, and why they trust me. Then I learned how these creatures hated the sound."

"Mmm….interesting….." Chrome looks down and Lori who was moaning, trying to wake up. "You don't have to worry about what she was saying?"

"What do you mean?" Toby asked

"The Dark Gaia spawn makes people do and or say weird stuff when they are possessed" Chip flies over to Lori to touch her head. "She'll be alright"

"Mmmm…" Toby looks down deep in thought. "So…I guess she didn't mean those things….."

"Well….the stuff they say is weird stuff, but sometimes it could be the inner thoughts of the person"

"_I…wonder if she really does like me…." _

"We have to seal that gate before they get possessed again!" Chip said.

"Why not? It sounded like Toby and Lori were about to get serious" Knuckles joked

"That isn't funny" Toby said while looking at Lori

"Alright I'll head over to the gate with Chip. " Tails offered

"You should find the main cathedral in the center of the citadel." Toby directed

"Got it! Let's Go!" Chip flies off with Tails following.

_**((((((((Savannah Citadel~ the nightfall castle))))))  
>BGM: Savannah Citadel; Night<strong>_

_**Find the Gaia Gate**_

Tails could see the Citadel up ahead as he was flying in the night time sky. He lands right at the door ad walks inside.

"Hey!" Tails turns and sees two bunnies fly down. "What's up, bro?"

"Damien, Iris!" the yellow fox smiles in reaction of seeing his Cramoisi brethren "What brings you here?"

Damien materializes his weapon. (Chakrams). "Father said we had to train in order to get better….and he said you could help us"

"Me?" The fox was in shock after hearing the albino rabbit's words. He looks down in thought for a brief moment. Chip flies down from his shoulder, and looks into a nearby pot.

"While you stand there doing soul searching, we've got to save the raiders and villagers before they get possessed." Iris said walking over to the pot to get Chip who had fallen in. "You're here to guide us, so let's go"

"Oh Right!" Tails reaches for his bracelet and makes his weapon appear in his hand. The three of them progress through the clay castle; all they could hear so far was the rustle of the grass and dead leaves blowing in the wind. They then reach a large door that would lead them inside. They would have to find their way inside the room they looked around for a switch or a trigger of some sort. Damien found a large leaver under a bush. Both he and Iris push the leaver and the giant door started to open. When they went inside they saw spawn everywhere. Tails closes his eyes and ignites six of his fiery namesakes and spin around creating a small fire tornado beating many of them down. He then flies up crating two fire balls and throwing them down causing the last two to explode. That wasn't all, more of them appear out of pools of darkness. Damien gets out his Chakrams, creating a ring of light emitting from them both and throws them at the monsters. Seeing the light shining on them was just too much for them to take, causing them to disappear.

"You weren't the only one father gave weapons to" he said smiling at Iris catching his weapon.

"Showoff" the ebony bunny rolls her eyes while smiling.

Tails moves ahead and jumps up to higher elevations using the old scaffoldings, and jumping over ledges. The three didn't spend too much time in one room. Almost all of them were blocked off by some switch that needed to be activated before they could advance; the castle itself was a like a big puzzle, but a puzzle to hard for our little team.

"See, you're a natural" Damien said. "Already it's like you can weld fire like a master"

"Aw, stop" The yellow fox starts to blush.

"How long have you been doing this?"

Tails looks up in the sky thinking back to the day he got this power. "It happened when I changed I guess. I didn't know anything about it until I was thinking about protecting….."

"Protecting who?" Iris asked

"He's talking about that flower lady" Chip said "She's so nice and smells like fruit. Is that who you're talking about?"

"Cosmo…yeah." Tails was still in his head, and nearly mumbled at the flying dog.

"So..i wonder how you are going to have kids?"

"WHAT?!" Damien just asked a weird question out of the blue.

"Well haven't you ever been curious…."

"STOP IT!" Iris pushes him trying to get him to stop. "Let's not think of that now, he's still a child!"

"It's ok" Tails blushed looking away. "Could we just not talk about it right now?"

"Right, Right. Sorry…." Damien said.

They see more nightmares appear in the dark after entering another large room. Damien throws one of his Chakrams and destroyed a large number of them

"Gravity trap! Negative 30g's!" Iris uses her gravity to lift the remaining enemies in the air. "How about a barbecue, brother?"

"You got it!" Tails ignites his hands, throwing fireballs at the nightmares burning them up. Damien then throws seeds at the monsters creating blood cores and putting them in a black urn.

"Nice going" Iris said

"Not too bad yourself" Damien said back

After flying around, Chip fines a lever which opens another door. They went inside and continued to traverse through the large Citadel, jumping over obstacles, pulling levers and pushing bricks out of the way. While trying to find the Gaia gate more and more spawn came rushing in, Some as small as puppies, others that looked like buzzing bees. The three were able to take them down easily , and sometimes would stop for a minute to drink their dark blood. Tails was drinking from three of them, while Iris and Damien were sharing. Poor Chip did his best to not to look at the ghastly sight. As they continue en route for the center they found another large door. Unlike the other that were made of stone, this one was made of wood, and was nice and solid, as if it was just built. Chip hovers over and feels the door with his eyes closed.

"I…I can see it….the Gaia gate should be behind here…" he said quietly.

"Finally!" said Iris "Let's get this thing sealed already."

"Wait a minute…." Chip said looking back at the three perking his ears.

"What's wrong?"

"Shh! There it is again….."

"If this is some prank….*gasp*" Iris stops after feeling a sudden thump in her chest. Tails and Damien feel the same thing. "What…what is that smell?!"

"Oh, man…I forgot about the guardian of the dark ring. Get Ready! I can feel it coming!"

The ground starts to rumble, almost hard enough to tear down the citadel. The three look behind at the large crater below them, looking at a huge purple mass coming from a crack made from the quake. Then the mass formed in to a huge monster with a round body and tentacles, and one large one that came from the top, and at the top a large eye appeared looking at the four below with an evil glare .

"That looks so gross!" said Iris covering her mouth.

"It smells even worse!" said Damien

"That's the guardian!?" Tails asked

"Yup…." Chip" declared "Let's take him down!"

_**((((Dark Guardian boss fight; Black Abomination)))))**_

_**BGM: Boss fight~ night**_

"**RRROOOOAAAAERRRRRRRRR!" **the monster screamed as it threw it' tentacles at the group. They both dodge the heavy impact as the tentacles smash into the ground making a large crater. Damien throws his Chakrams at the tentacles cutting them down like wild vines. Iris used her gravity hold on the remaining tentacles and wrapped them around the monster, but the monster fights back and throws its tentacles at Iris knocking her down. Tails could see tentacles coming at him; he runs right at the monster avoiding the tentacles and jumping on it. He then felt his feet sinking in the beast, and could not get out. The more he struggled the more he sank. He then ignites his hands burring up the goo that was sucking him up; the goo hardens allowing Tails to break free. He then flies back and ignites his drill wrench creating a large fire ball. He then throws it at the beast making it shriek in pain and lower it's assented eye. Damien then runs up and swings the sharp end of his Chakrams at the eye multiple times. To his surprise, the monster grabs him with it's tentacles and starts swinging him around. Iris gets back up and uses her gravity hold to grab the tentacle forcing the monster to let go. Damien breaks free and cuts the tentacle down, but he sees more tentacles growing around the beast.

"Aww Dang it!" Damien shouted.

"I think there is something radiating in that thing causing it to regenerate." Chip said to Tails. "If you can somehow reach its core, you could kill it for good."

"Got it" Tails avoids more tentacles and jumps back at the monster's center. He creates another fire ball and throws it in its mouth, but the monster melts down into a black puddle before it hits him. Tails looks at the puddle come after him and the others. They try to fly higher but more tentacles come from out of the puddle and grab all four of them. When the monster's body reforms it traps them on its massive body. All of them were trying to break free from the warm messy goo that felt like hot glue and smelled appalling.

"Awww! Sick sick sick!" Iris shouted

"Uhhh!" Damien tries to get out.

Tails was trying to ignite his fire, but the goo was sucking him up as well as crushing him.

"Tails, do something before we become lunch!" Chip shouted almost being sucked up.

"I'm….trying…" Tails closes his eyes and growls louder while glowing bright yellow In an instant a part of the monster's body hardens, and breaks up, allowing them to escape. Tails then flies up all the way to the monster's eye and hits it hard with his drill wrench. Iris and Damien could see the harden part soften again forming back to normal. The monster then roars in rage and takes a deep breath.

"I got a bad feeling about this…" Damien sees the monster puff up its mouth.

"Get out of the way!" Iris ordered as she grabs Damien and flew him out of the way with Tails.

The monster opens its mouth unleashing black tar from its mouth. Chip was on Iris shoulder looking over the monster spew its rancid black goo.

"Gross! I never knew the spawn could do that!" He said covering his mouth.

"Yeah…Dark Gaia has a sick mind…" Chip sticks out his tongue looking at the goo.

"Oh Man the entire area is covered in slime!" Damien said looking around "What do we do now?"

Iris looked around at the area for any clean spots for them to fight, but could not find even one spot that was not covered in slop. She looked down and closed her eyes for a minute to think. She then opened them up and came up with an idea.

"Chip. Can you launch a light bean at that thing?" she asked

"Umm, sure" he said hesitantly "But why…?"

"Yeah...what are you up too?" Tails asked

"Tails, burn up as much as the body as you can." Iris ordered

"But…" Tails was still lost.

"Just trust me. Damien, I'll try to hold him down while you, Tails and Chip attack"

"Sure whatever you say" Damien and Chip fly at the beast. Tails unleashes fire at the tentacles hardening them in their place. Iris tries her gravity hold on the monster once more while chip launched a beam of light from his light ring. The beast's body then starts to harden from the bottom due to Tails' fire. Damien threw his Chakrams at the tentacles bringing them down. The beast screams in pain. The body was just about stone; Iris runs at the beast while keeping it in place and then kicks it's stone body making a huge gaping hole. She then sees a glowing purple sphere inside the beast.

"There you are…" She then materializes her knife from her ankle and strikes the core, causing it to crack and shatter to pieces. Tails flies at the eye and swings his weapon one last time causing the eye to shatter. The body then breaks to pieces, after both the core and the eye was destroyed. The three of them fly way from the crumbling monster. When the dust clears there was nothing but purple stones that then evaporates into black smoke.

_**(((((Dark Guardian Boss: Boss defeated))))**_

Whew! Glad that's over!" said Chip flying over to the three

"You're telling me" said Tails said smiling at Iris. "That was a good call back there"

"Heh heh, thanks! Let's just say I have a sixth since about certain things. "

"That what I like about you, you're full of surprises"

"Heh heh! Thanks!" Iris was rubbing the back of her head, blushing and then looks at Tails. "Wow….when did you get another tail?"

"Wha…" Tails looks behind his back and saw that he had another flaming tail. He now had seven fire namesakes. "Whoa…."

"Looks like you're getting stronger bro" Damien said

The four then see the large wooden door open up reveling the inside large cathedral. They walk in the room and see the large dark ring glowing.

"Ok Chip, destroy that thing!" said Tails

"You got it!" he said hovering over to the ring. His body glows green as he looks down at the ring. "Shatter!" a green bean shots down from his ring; the green light breaks down the purple glyph replacing it with a green one that shoots out a green light up to the ceiling.

"Sigh* Chip sighed happily "Three down four to go" He flies over to Tails satisfied.

"Wait….wasn't there supposed to be a bell that rings?" Tails asked. They see the green light disappear with a small green stone falling on the ground. Iris walks over and picks it up.

"Ohhh…this isn't good!" Chip was holding his head flying around. "If the bell doesn't ring, the dark Gaia spawn will continue to roam free! This is bad! Bad. Bad Bad!"

"What's this?" Iris holds up the green stone in front of the panicking spirit.

"I don't know…..let's head back and see what's going on?" Tails said.

_**The Nocturne of Gaia **_

Sonic, Amy and Knuckles were surrounded by possessed civilians trying to grab them.

"What's taking them so long?" Amy asked avoiding another villager coming at them.

"Are we going to keep this up till sunset?" Sonic asked

Toby was fighting off Lori who was once again possessed. "*pant* *pant*" Toby was kneeling down catching his breath.

"**Done in already?"** the possessed girl asked giggling and more spawn approaching. "Give your heart to our master…and all the pain will go away…."

"Sonic!" the blue hedgehog looks up and sees his two tailed bud flying down with the two rabbits and Chip.

"Did you take care of the gate?" Sonic asked

"Well…." Tails rubs the back of his head.

"Blue boy!" Sonic turns and sees Richter running up to him. "Help! I'm being mugged!"

"What's wrong?" he asked the panting echidna.

"**Richter!"** Richter turns around and sees someone pushing through the possessed people. It was Lila holding a frying pan.

"Lila?" Sonic looks at the brown hedgehog hanging her head. She quickly looks up showing her soulless eyes and grinning mouth. She dashes at Richter and swings her pan.

"WHA!" Richter barely avoids the pan and jumps behind Sonic. "Help! She's going to bang on me!"

"**I only want to cook with you, Richter…"** she said giggling. **"Come here!"**

"We don't know what happened!" Tails said blocking Lila with his drill wrench. "We beat the guardian and closed the ring….but we didn't hear the chapel bell!"

"The bell gives a call to all the dark creatures that sends them back to the core of the earth, where Dark Gaia sleeps!" Chip explained.

"The bell is broken!" Toby said "I forgot to mention that…."

"Well how are we…." Iris then sees the green stone float over to Toby.

"Wha…" the young man curiously looks at the stone while lifting his spear the stone then merges with his weapon and turns back into a flute. This time it was bronze with emerald stones glowing on it. He didn't know why, but he puts his lips on it and starts to play it. His body glows green and he starts to play the flute. It was a charming melody that puts everyone at ease. The possessed villagers cover their ears at the peaceful music playing including Lori and Lila. The spawn comes out of their bodies shrieking and disappearing. The sound could be heard for miles even beyond the seven villages.

"It's….it's the same tone as the bell…" Chip said

"Yes….." Sonic turns and sees the white puma walk up to them smiling. "The sacred bell has been broken for centuries. So the guardians of the temple created that flute from the bell and merging it with a jema, thus creating the item you see now. And Toby is a descendant of those guardians."

Toby then stops playing and turns to Lori now unconscious picking her up.

"Well done, my boy" the white puma, Dr. Michel said.

"What…what just happened…." Toby looks at Lori and back at the doctor.

"So that's why this temple is in ruins." Chip thought. "That stone must have been the final part of the instrument."

"So are the mean monster's gone now?" Richter asked while picking up Lila.

"Yes. All thanks to Toby here."

"Way to go, bud" Sonic pats his back.

"Mmm…." Richter looks at him as he was giggling nervously at everyone.

"nnnnn…" Lila wakes up and sees Richter "What…what happened?"

"Uhh…." Richter was trying to think of something to say, but was too lost for words. "Nothing…"

_**Master of the wind**_

Moments later, Sonic and Amy were looking over the people of mazuri partying and celebrating. Though it was getting late there was never a better time to celebrate. A lot was on Sonic's mind right now.

"You are usually the life of the party Sonic" Amy stated

"Yeah, but so much has happened. Richter and Chrome changing….that blood shadow thing….everything is happening so fast"

"I thought someone like you would like fast…"

"It's…normal for me especially now." Sonic was deep in thought as he looks at his gauntlet. He looks at the three jema already on it. The first one (blue) was his sword. The second one (white) was a shield able to absorb an attack and throw it back at an enemy. And the third one (amber) was a stone able to absorb any element that he can use to fight. "I can use wind to fight, but I wonder if I can take it up to the next level"

"What do you mean?" Amy tilts her head.

"That depends on what he thinks…" a person said behind the two.

"AHHH!" Amy grabs the person by the arm and throws them on the ground.

"OW!" Richter was tossed on the ground.

"What's your problem, sneaking up behind people?!" Amy shouted

"You are fast, blue boy" Richter ignores Amy and raps his arm around Sonic's shoulder. "but if you want to become a true master of the wind, you must learn your element first"

"What are you talking about? I know I can use wind." Sonic asked while pulling himself from Richter.

"Yes, yes, yes. The wind force is strong in you….but you've got a ways to go before you reach the level of Exen"

"What do you mean? I mopped the floor with you!"

"Yes, but I was holding back."

"What?!" Sonic steps back in shock.

"What you didn't know? Dude, if I showed you full power….my ship wouldn't even be flying. Earth is a strong element, if not used right. I would cause more damage than the grand mafia could ever do. As you've…already seen…." (See chapter 12). You being a Cramoisi has given you quite the leverage, but I bet if you could master your element, you could surpass even me."

"And you're supposed to be a master or something?" Amy asked

"I am a Master, but…." Richter turns around away from the two. "There are even users out there stronger than me, with earth or any other element. A number of those users are either old masters or members of the mafia, some in the mafia stronger than me."

"That's why you need our help. But you're a Cramoisi now" Amy reminded

"Yeah...about that…" Richter sighed before telling him. "I defeated Ziggfreed yeah, but he was cakewalk compared to the other three robain Generals and the rest of the mafia."

"Power and speed isn't everything, Sonic." Sonic turns and looks at Shadow walk up. "have you noticed that they were able to anticipate our every move?"

"How many times do I have to tell ya? I'm not a trader!" Richter exclaimed

"I know that now..." Shadow looks away. "Apparently….I've learned there was…another way they got our information. Both the cobalt shroud and the grand mafia have set up ways to kill us and the dusk raiders. And since both captains are now Cramoisi, they will be more obsessed with killing us now."

"What are you saying, Shadow?"

"If all of us are going to take this fight to the leaders, we have to be prepared. And that means learning more of our newfound power."

"Shadow's giving me advice? It must be serious…." Sonic rolled his eyes.

"But, he's right blue boy" Richter agreed. "Iffen (If) you plan on taking down the criminals and the agents all together, you must unlock your full potential as a wind user. If you crammons can do that, we might have a chance at defeating both our enemies once and for all. "

"So what do you propose? I'm guessing you train me to become this powerful wind user?"

"Heck no!" Richter jumps in front of him. "Wind and Earth are like yin and yang. I can't teach it to ya, plus it takes years to master an element. We're talking a life commitment of training in not only power but also in mind."

"We don't have years. The race in Megalo is in less than four days" Amy pointed out.

"Then we'd better make the best of it" Sonic said smiling.

"I like your spirit, blue boy. That's why I'm going to help you"

"But you said…"

"I know what I said, but all elements have one thing in common. A certain drive that's needed to unlock it inside someone. We can help you find that drive, and then learning wind will just come by on its own. four days is nowhere near enough time, but it's enough for you to get in sync.

"So how do I find the drive?"

"I don't know" Richter turns around and walks away. "You'll have to somehow find it on your own."

"Hey wait!...and he's gone….*sigh*"

"In sync with my element….." Shadow looks down in thought.

"I don't get Richter" Sonic sighed "I don't need to be in any more sync with my so called element if I'm as fast as the wind."

"Speed isn't everything, Sonic." Shadow said abruptly. "That Limrana made it clear during your battle."

"Hey, I beat him, didn't I"

"If you had an ounce of mastery with your element you could have finished him ages ago."

Sonic then materializes his sword and points it at Shadow. "Is that a challenge? I've beaten you like a thousand times"

"Humph!" Shadow materializes his sword as well and looks back at Sonic, in an instant Shadow was gone. Sonic was too much in shock to find him. The next thing he knows he was lying on the ground with Shadow's sword pointed right at his chest.

"How did you…." Shadow then shows Sonic a red glowing gem. "A Chaos emerald? You cheater."

"Going against criminals isn't about fairness" Amy helps Sonic get up. "it's about winning the fight"

"Hey guys. What are you fighting for?" Tails asked walking up to Sonic.

"Ah, it's nothing" Sonic withdraws his sword giving the yellow fox a "thumbs" up. "We were just having another 'Chat"

"So I see..."

_**Taking off….with extra tunes**_

Moments later Sonic and the others were back at the Terra sunset seeing the villagers off.

"Ohhh…." Lori was holding her head leaning on Chrome. "When will this headache go away…."

"Chao…." Lori's chao Pontem sits on her head patting her forehead. Toby was rubbing her back still feeling off since her episode.

"Once again, you have saved us all, Sonic. Thank you so much" Said the village elder. "I only wish we could somehow repay you."

"You could give us some first soup to go..OW!" Chrome rams his elbow on Richter's chest.

"I thought you might say that" A pink female wolverine walks over to Richter with a pot as tall as him. "Hey Blade, sorry I'm late"

"That's alright sis" Blade smiles at the wolverine. "Where's uhh…Kalle? I thought she'd be here…"

"She was a little upset about you leaving….I haven't seen her."

"Wait!" A tan wolverine comes running up to Blade holding a necklace. "Oh….." She stops for a minute to catch her breath, and the looks up at Blade smiling. "here…I made this for you"

"Wow…heh….it looks great!"

"Are you sure, I can't come with you?" She asked with pleading eyes

"I'll come back. I promise. Once we take care of the mafia" Kalle turns around and sighs looking rather disappointed.

"That's what you said three years ago…."

"Kalle I.."

She then turns around and looks back at Blade with a smile. "Well you better hurry up and get back here….especially if we are going to have a new family member here soon."

"I promise I will be home by…..wait! Do you mean?" Without warning Kalle comes up and kisses Blade and quickly pulls away.

"Take care, and hurry back" She turns around walking away.

"I…I…." Blade couldn't believe what he heard

"Alright!" Zenith comes over and pats his back. "Way to go man!"

"Congrats Blade!" Mercury pats his back.

"You know. You could stay here, Blade" Chrome offered "She's your wife after all. You should stay and take care of her"

Blade sighs while turning back to the ship . "Thanks, captain. But there will be no point in me staying if I don't know that our child will be safe from these so-called monsters." 

Chrome looks at his crew mate as he walks back on board. "*sigh* at least you'll know she _is _safe"

"Chrome?" Mercury rubs Chrome back.

"We should get going" he turns back to the villagers, and sees Toby; he walks back in the direction of the jungle. "Thank you for all your help Toby, you've been a big help."

"I was happy too." Toby turns back and smiles. "And…sorry for suspecting you to be poachers. I only wish….there was some way I could repay WHOA!" Toby sees Richter in front of his face.

"Quit your stalling kid. That expression is written all over your face." Richter stands back holding his stones mumbling to himself with his stones glowing bright.

"What are you talking about?" Toby steps back from Richter who was looking at him grinning. Orange lighting comes from his hands that hits Toby, blowing him back. It didn't hurt but he felt a strange tingle on his arm. "Ohhh.…wha!" he saw a orange sun on his arm, just like Richter's"

"Kid. I like you" Richter was right in front of his face. "You got an element, you got a weapon and you fight for freedom. So, you're coming with us, dreadlock boy!"

"Look who's calling who a deadlock boy…" Chrome pulls on Richter's hair

"What?! I can't just…WHA!" Richter picks up Toby and turns to ship. "What…what makes you think you can take me with you against my will?"

"I'm a pirate. It's what we do. " Richter said nonchalant. "Although Don't worry, I wouldn't think of groping you or anything"

"So he says…" Sonic said under his breath

"Elder! Say something!" Toby said "You…you're just going to let him take me?"

"I think it will be a great for you, Toby" Toby looks at the elder in shock. "You've been hanging out with your lions too long. You should go out and see the world"

"Bye, Toby" Said s young villager waving "Bring us back a souvenir!"

"Good luck with learning your gift" another one said

Toby narrows his eyes with an anime mad mark on her head "Traitors!"

"Then it's settled!" Richter said

"What about my stuff?" Toby asked as Richter was walking him on the ship.

"Packed!" Quinn hovers over, carrying luggage.

"You went through my stuff? Wha..what about my Lionesses?"

"We can watch over them" elder petting them.

"Don't worry. Everything is good!" Richter said

"Sigh* I give up….." Toby said in defeat as Richter caries him on the ship. "Take good care of La and Na…."

"Well if there's nothing else, we'll be seeing… huh?" Sonic could feel someone nudging him. It was the lion with the cub on his head. Everyone gasped in reaction to the lion's appearance. "Oh..hey….." Sonic could see the lion holding something in its mouth and puts it down. Sonic walks up and picks up the item. The little lion cub leans over and licks Sonic's face. "Uhhh….thanks.." the large lion then turns around and walks in the jungle.

"He shows great gratitude" Sonic turns and sees Doctor Michel holding a box. "He considers you as a member of his clan"

"I wouldn't go that far…." Sonic and the others chuckle.

"Captain Chrome…I have something for you"

"What is it?" Chrome takes the box and looks inside, looking at small bottles, herbs and scrolls.

"Some medicine of my own creation, a few medical herbs, and also ingredients, along with some nature moves Jazz or any other plant users can learn."

"Oh wow…thanks" Chrome thanked "That means….you….you're a plant user?"

"It will take me time, to fix the damages done by Geissian, but rest assured everything will be as good as new soon. Thank you all"

"Chrome, we're ready to take off" Scarlet came out to tell the white echidna

"Rogues! Let's move out!" Chrome and the other raiders walk back on the ship. Sonic looks at the item, it was a single bronze greave with a green stone on it. It was a slightly big, but not for him. He was about to put it on when he heard the ship about to take off.

"We're about to leave you behind, Sonic" Tails said already on board."

Sonic nods and jumps on board as the ship closes its hatch and ascends to the sky. Kalle could see the ship flying in the sky. She clenches a similar necklace looking at the sky.

"Come back safely…." She said with a tear coming down her face.

_**Ghost from the past and dreams**_

In the bridge of the ship, Richter was sitting in the captain's chair looking at the dark sky. A lot was on his mind. He couldn't think straight, nor could he fathom what has happened over the past few days. It seemed he was Ok, but his actions seemed as if they were just a cover up to hide his true feelings. He has a flashback to when Ziggfreed was killed right in front of him. One would think having one of his greatest enemies destroyed would put his mind at ease, but still….

Richter looks at his new harness while moving his fingers. "Father….what's become of me…." He jumps out of his chair as he hears the door slide open. He looks at sees his brother walk in with a small ice cream sundae with a cup of wine.

"Wow…..maybe you should have been turned into a Cramoisi ages ago. You seem more calm than normal" his brother uttered while giving him the ice cream. "You..uhhh…feeling alright?"

"Oh yeah!" Richter was doing his best to hide his sober mood. "I'm just….uhhh…yeah…."

"That explains a lot." Chrome walks over to the window and starts drinking his wine. "tell me…why did you take Toby from his home?"

"You know….I'm not exactly sure…" Richter takes a bite of his sundae. "Something was telling me to. Normally I would ask before I just bring them in, but somehow…these kids have some connection to us.

In Tails and Cosmo's room. Cosmo was sleeping with Tails quietly snoring. She suddenly feels a presence in her room. She opens her eyes and sees the orange haired girl looking at her. The mere sight makes her jump out of bed. The girl then floats over to the door and disappears. Cosmo quickly manifest her normal clothes and goes out the door, but not before looking at Tails who was still sleeping. She smiles and walks out.

"You're just not talking about the human kids either are ya. The mobian Cramosi also? They all have some connection don't they?"

"it's not just them…." Richter thinks back to the yellow phoenix that turned into Benedict. "That boy as well…I don't know why I feel it now…"

Shadow was outside of the ship looking at the cloudy sky. He instantly feels a presence of something familiar.

"Mua ha ha ha ha…."

"What?" Shadow snaps out of his trance and looks around for the laughter. He runs forward and sees a purple blob appear in front of him. The blob forms into a dark figure that looked like a hedgehog. Shadow was shocked as he looks at it with it's purple skin and white tips, legs with no feet, red sclera eyes with green irises and mouth less muzzle.

"YOU!" Shadow summons his sword and runs after the figure. The figure waves his sharp menacing claws at him while flying backwards. "Get back here!"

"What about Sonic?"

"Blue boy? Eh, don't know yet. I wish I could show him tricks, but our elements are separate.

"I mean do you feel a connection to him?"

"Oh…I don't know…." Richter's tone was lowed as he was thinking about the blue hedgehog.

Silver was in one of the bars and drinking a chocolate shake, when he feels a strange heat. His heart pounds when he recognizes this heat from a forgotten past. He turns around and sees a large molten fireball hover in the room. "What?! Impossible!" He quickly gets up and summons his katana. "You should be dead!" he hears a familiar roar in his head and sees the fireball float away. "Oh no you don't!" Sliver runs after it.

"Riddle me this. Do you think _we _ have a connection to these guys in any fashion?" Richter asked.

"You tell me" Chrome puts his glass down.

Cosmo enters the botanical garden and sees the girl inside. "Who…who are you?"

The girl lifts her hands showing Cosmo an assortment of different lights that form into a flower a flower that looked very familiar. "What….that's the flower I…." The girl then floats up and vanishes with a wind blowing into the flower garden. Cosmo looks at the flowers being blown by the violent wind. She walks over to the garden and sees one flower that was a large purple and red bud. "it…it can't be…."

"What's wrong, Cosmo" the alien turns around and sees Tails rubbing his eyes looking at his lover.

Shadow chase the hedgehog on the deck of the ship. He then stops and hears another familiar voice. "Shadow.." He Stops running and turns around and sees another familiar figure. This one was a floating ominous figure who was all black with three eyes and a black robe. "What's going on!" the creature floats in the sky. Shadow flies in the sky and goes after him, but as he was about to swing his sword. "Shadow.." He hears yet another voice. He looks down on the ship and sees a little blonde girl sitting on a rail. He turns back to look for the dark creature, but he was nowhere to be found. He floats down while looking at the girl. He stares at her with wide eyes and eyes about to well up. The girl turns around showing her blue eyes and smiling at Shadow. "Shadow…" Shadow didn't even listen to Rouge walking up to her from inside of the ship. He was too shocked looking at the girl. Rouge also looks and was shocked to see her.

"Well whatever the reason, I'm sure it's fine. The stones have been quiet, so there shouldn't be much to worry about." Richter said

Chrome looks down and sighs. "I hope your right, Richter"

Silver finds the floating fire ball in a large chamber with crystals and gems everywhere. "Silver!"

Silver turns around and sees Blaze holding her lance. "I felt your heart racing, is everything alright?"

"No! take a look!" Silver points at a the large fireball floating in the center of the room.

"No….it can't be…" Blaze runs up and readies herself.

Both captains walk out of the bridge while still talking. "Well try not to suck on anyone tonight. If you feel hungry just go to the kichen and get a blood core"

"Yeah yeah yeah. Good night, Chrome" Richter walks in the opposite direction leaving Chrome. Chrome turns around going to his room. "Sleep well, brother…"

Cosmo walks up to the flower as it starts to glow. "Jem's flower…." Cosmo reaches her hand trying to touch the flower. "Could it be…."

Shadow looks at the girl as she turns back and looks at the sky.

""The world is against you" Shadow shakes his head and looks to the right of him and sees the purple skinned hedgehog with no mouth. Both Rouge and Shadow ready their weapons ready to strike.

"You still have to fulfill your promise to me…." Shadow turns to his right and sees the floating black creature stare at them with his red eyes. "You were made by me, and will follow my command"

Shadow steps back to the girl, trying to protect her from the monsters that stood before him.

"Won't you help them, Shadow?" Shadow turns around to the blonde girl. "Won't you help all the people on the planet live ? That's why you were made, to give them a chance to be happy"

"Wait…" Shadow lowers his head and closes his eyes. Rouge could see a tear drop from his face. "This…this isn't real….you can't be her…." Shadow looks up and looks at the three people. "All of you aren't real"

"Very good, Shadow" the little girl said smiling.

"Although it took longer than I anticipated" the black creature added. "You chose to leave your past behind you, yet you still chase after it.."

"Painful events in the past, can scar your heart..." the hedgehog spoke while waving his hands.

"But you have learned not to be haunted from your past." The blonde girl jumps down. The hedgehog and the black alien form into balls of light that fuse with the girl. There was then a bright flash that blinds shadow and Rouge. When the flash stops, Shadow looks at the girl who was now a dark skinned elf with a short black robe. "What do you think? Does this appearance please you?"

"Who are you?" Shadow asked in a deep, and harsh tone

The elf laughs while showing him a bracelet.. "Someone who's been waiting for you for a long time…"

Silver and Blaze see the fire ball lower in front of them. "too hot for you? Maybe I should cool down…." The ball then transforms into an ivory figure. This one was a pale skin elf with lavender hair.

"What the….." Both Silver and Blaze said.

"It's great to see you! Both of you….." the elf said

, Sonic and Amy were in their room. Sonic was sitting at his desk looking at the bronze grieve, while Amy was in the shower.

"Mmmmm…." Sonic looks at the trinket in wonder. There was a lot put on his shoulders just over the six months. He sighs while taking off his gauntlet and putting it aside with the greave. He stands up and looks in the mirror seeing his Cramoisi form, he then starts making faces showing off his fangs. He spends a moment to goof off in front of the mirror playing with his mouth and his hands.

"What are you doing?" Sonic stops and turns around and sees Amy wrapped in a towel as well as wearing one on her head.

"Oh….I was uhhh…..nothing…" Sonic laughed nervously.

Amy walks over to the bed and sits down. "Have your wounds healed?"

"After another cup of blood, I've felt fine." Both hedgehogs look at the greave on the table.

"What do you think it is?" Amy asked

"Don't know….and I don't want to think about it now….." Sonic walks over and lays in the bed; Amy smiles and rubs his soft cold face. "*yawn*…what a day…I'm bused….I'm going to…."

"Ok my brave azure knight. Get some rest."

Sonic let's his eyes wince and finally close, putting him to sleep within seconds.

"SONIC WAKE UP!"

"YAH!" Sonic quickly gets up and looks at Amy trembling.

"What's wrong?" Sonic looks at the horrified pink hedgehog point at the window looking at a ghostly figure.

"Come on, Amy…" Sonic sighed while getting up. "I'm tired…..no more tricks…" Sonic looks at the ghostly figure and sees something that made his jaw drop. He saw the sees the same orange hair girl standing outside. He opens the window and sees girl looking at him while floating.

"Don't think it's over" she disappears from Sonic's sight.

"What?" they both turn around and jump seeing the girl in their bed room. The girl walks over and picks up the Greave then looks at Sonic. What was a major shock was that the girl then glows bright blue and shrinks down to his size. The girl now was a blue haired blue skin elf wearing a black vest, and white, un-tucked dress shirt and pants.

"This is only the beginning." The elf now had a young masculine voice. "The young masters' return is only the first step. If you want to destroy the evil the others must return. You must bring others back."

"Who…or what are you?" Sonic looks at the elf trying to wrap his mind around what he was saying.

The elf walks up and kneels in front of Sonic. "I have been waiting…" the elf slowly starts to despair. "..young master…" the Greave drops on the ground after the elf disappeared.

"Young...master…." Sonic grabs the greave and looks at Amy.

"Was that….the….." Amy pauses while looking at Sonic pick up the trinket and setting it on the table.

"Yeah…that's the same girl…uhh or elf….or thing that was in my dream…."

"uhhh….maybe we _should _ get some rest….." Amy takes off her towel putting on her night clothes. Sonic was still looking at Amy despite of her changing in front of him, but Amy didn't mind one bit. In fact, he stops Amy right when she was about to put her shirt on. "So…that's how it's going to be tonight?"

"I need something to…numb my mind…" Sonic said softly while clapping his hands turning the lights off.

"Hero or not….you're such a bad boy…" Amy giggled

(((((TBC))))))

Cliffy! Oh how I adore them! Sorry for those who was expecting some erotic events but I must keep this at teen rated level. But I can always change it lol. So What will be in store for our heroes anti-heroes, and knuckleheaded pirates next time? Well….I can't say. You'll just have to find out…..NEXT TIME!

BGM's (((Marcoat and Robain Boss fight)))): watch?v=9l1jkmPF9-c

(((Savanah citadel Night))))): watch?v=xPnLSA5ZLfY

((((Dark Guardian Boss fight)))): watch?v=ZUzY05-BP78

This is a new thing I added. Got the idea from this dude! ((((56th Reg. Corporal Epps Hande))))) So far I like the idea, and if you don't oh well tough kumquats!


	15. Race for your Life, Cramoisi!

Again Sorry for the long long wait! But you know...college and all that good stuff...eh...ANYWHO On with the chap!

All SEGA character's are SEGA's

Sonic was once again in the dark room with the glowing coffins. He gets up with a sigh looking around at the cadavers below him. What could it all mean? What are these dreams telling him? He looked down and noticed something…different. The cadavers below weren't his friends at all. The caskets were the same, but the bodies were people he has never seen. "What the…." He even looks at the casket that had bodies that look like him and Amy, and he saw that they were not the same. "How is…"

"Your heart now knows the truth" Sonic turns around and sees the blue elf white-blue elf walk up to him.

"It's you! That…girl-man….what do you want from me?!"

"Yeah." Sonic turns and sees Amy walk up "What do you want from us? Just who are you, and why do you keep coming into Sonic's dreams?"

"What are you doing here?" Sonic asked "This is my dream"

"I…I thought it was mine…" Amy said

"Oh…but I'm not in either of your dreams" the elf said smiling. Suddenly everything around him shatters to pieces revealing a new environment. It was a grassy green plan with hills, flowers that spin and waterfalls everywhere. _"We_ are in his memories."

"What?" Sonic said "I don't remember some castle"

"Ahh, but you do. You see the truth was hiding from you for as long as you can remember "Sonic then sees the environment change again. This time he was in a factory that had tubes of blue and purple Chemicals everywhere. Sonic looks at the environment change once more; this time he and Amy were in the sky looking at ruins hovering and birds flying.

"It is easy…to look among the past events of your own life. But what about events that have happened in lives linked to your own." The environment continues to show other places Sonic has been to. "Your link with the tribe is stronger than you think"

"Tribe…you mean…the Cramoisi? What are you?"

The elf then starts to glow and change into a different person. Sonic gasped in shock to see a man who had a mustache a red shirt and black pants and sunglasses. "Come on hedgehog? You haven't figured it out?!"

"Eggman?!" Sonic and Amy get into a fighting stance. "When they look at the environment change again they see that they were in a mansion. Sonic recognizes the mansion; a place that he used to live in long ago. He looks at Eggman and sees that he was gone. "Where'd you go?!"

"You haven't figured it out?" He turns around and could not believe his eyes. He saw a young boy with auburn hair red and white shirt and blue shorts. "These are memories….you're memories."

"What's going on?" Amy wondered "looking at the scene change again; this time they was back in Solieanna forest. They then saw a young woman with feathers in her hair and a white dress.

"Are you starting to remember?" the woman asked the scene changes once more; the three of them were in a ruined metropolis surrounded by fire and lava.

"The memories that you had?" The two of them turn around and to their surprise the see Darcy standing in her coffin. "Well child? Has everything come clear to you?"

"Uhhhh….." Sonic and Amy look at each other confused

"Sounds to me you still don't get it, blue boy" They turn around one last time as the environment changes around them one last time, showing the botanical garden of the Terra sunset, and see Richter smiling while holding his hammer.

"Enough!" Sonic walks up to Richter "Is this some kind of prank?!"

"Oh no…blue boy….this is all too real" Richter then turns into the mysterious elf.

"but first I must tell you….who I really am. An entity who has been around…since the beginning.

"Of time?" Amy asked

"you might say that, the beginning of your time….I have lain dormant inside your memories for long before anyone can remember….watching over the actions…your actions….." the elf turns back to Eggman. "And individuals you've come in contact with" he spoke using his voice. He then turns into Tails, in a cloud of blue smoke. "You may think that it was mere coincidence….." he disappears and reappears beside him as Knuckles. "that all the people you met before….." he disappears again.

"GAH! Sonic looks below him and sees Cream peaking behind him.

"..didn't have some kind of connection?" he spoke in Cream's little girl voice. "I know it's all confusing to you, Mr. Sonic." Cream walks back in front of Sonic and changes into another being. He was not a blue elf or anyone Sonic even knew. This time he was an entity with no feet and blue legs. He wore a robe that was white at the bottom and blue at the top. His spines were white-blue and drooping down. He turns around and shows the face of a hedgehog with glowing blue eyes. "…but soon…everything will be clear….but you must believe….I am not your enemy…merely a guide" Sonic and Amy's vision goes white.

Sonic shoots his eyes open. He looks around and sees he was back in bed. "What the…ahhhh not again!"

"You must be really annoyed…" Sonic looks down at Amy.

"Did you…."

"Yup! I had the same dream"

"We are now entering Megalo Station…." The two heard the intercom.

**_Chapter 15_**

**_Race for your life, Cramoisi!_**

_**The futuristic city and Robian haven: Megalo Station **_

Outside Richter was looking at what was ahead. He saw a large city with chrome buildings and roads in the sky. He then saw Sonic walk up to him, with his cloak. They both looked over the city they were approaching.

"You feeling Ok Richter?" asked Sonic

Richter sighted before answering "Yeah…I'll be ok. I just..."

"Richter...don't try to hide anything. Your apart of us now you don't have to hide your emotions anymore.

Richter then gasped a little at the mention of the last words the hedgehog said. He then turns over to him "Well now that you mention it. I could use some excitement"

Sonic looked at Richter and smiled. "You know...When I became a Cramoisi everything changed for me. I can't go out in the sun, I have to look after everyone else, and now I have to stop Dark Gaia from escaping from the world. I sometimes miss those days when I would go out to the beach and eating chili dogs"

"Listen, Blue boy. Sonic, you've always been free, even if you are now a Cram-Cram with responsibilities. Look at me. I have this large ship, and crew members who are almost mostly children to look after. And you see how wild and free I act.

"Heh! Heh! Yup! Sometimes you even surpass me!"

They both laughed at each other.

"But still" Richter continued "No matter how many burdens you carry. You're always as free as you feel. If you feel good about what you do, you're always free. I have to keep remind me of that. This new power I have…it almost feels like a limiter….I….sigh…..I just hope I can still be me…."

Sonic looked at Richter smiling and giving him a thumbs up. Sonic smiled and gave him one back. "Thanks Richter"

"For what?" Richter tilts his head in confusion

"It's like I said. When I transformed, I thought things would never be the same again. But you've given me a slap to my face, reminding me of who I am. And when I look at you having a good time with the others, it keeps me going."

"Oh…heh.." Richter rubs the back of his head. "Although I'm not big on following people, Madame Darcy seems like a nice gal, I don't think she would want to do anything to deprive us of our free spirits. Just remember, you're only as free as you feel"

"Sonic?" the two of them turn and se Amy with a few others with her. Lila walks up to Richter and looks the large city in awe, looking at the beautiful sight of the futuristic city. Amy walked up to sonic and kissed him.

"Richter?" asked Lila "It's this..?"

"Yup!" said Richter showing Lila the city "The robian Haven Megalo Station"

"Home of the Robian Refuges, and the World Ex Grand Prix" said Chrome

Alice crawled over to Richter with a grinning, looking at Sonic.

"Uhhh Why are you looking at me like that" said sonic

"Alice is finally finished!" Alice was holding a gray and white disk, and rubbing it up against her face.

"Are you ready, sweetie"

"Ready for what?" Sonic asked losing his patience.

"HAAAAA!" Alice slapped the disk on Sonic's chest while pushing the button, and removing his cloak. "Commence operation; umbrella"

The disk starts to glow a gray light that shrouds all around Sonic. Richter and the others shield their eyes. When the light diminished, Richter looks at Sonic shocked. He sees Sonic with no wings, his skin looked normal and not slightly pale, and his eyes were no longer Ruby but lime green. Everyone was shocked at what they were looking at. They did not see Sonic as a Cramoisi but what he looked like before he became a Cramoisi, wearing tan pants and a blue bandana scarf over her neck. Sonic looked completely normal.

"Sonic?" asked Amy looking at her beloved hedgehog.

Sonic looks at himself and was astonished. "I'm…normal? How?"

"That is the **Flash-Walke**r; Alice has been working on for the past week" Alice explained "A device that counters the dark matter in the Cram-Cram's. This device will not only protect Cram-Cram's from sunlight, but will also hide the appearance of Cram-Cam's as well, and make them look like what they were before they changed.

"Alice…" Sonic looks at the smiling girl who giggled at Sonic but then clears her throat.

"But there is a catchy-catch. The flash-Walker charges up on dark matter, meaning that you will have to walk back in the dark sometimes to make sure that it stays powered up. Too much light and the Flash walker will run out of power. Too much dark and it will over power and explode. The time on the Flash walker is about 2 hours"

"I can't believe it." Sonic was amazed to see his body back to normal. All this time, he thought that he would stay in his Cramoisi form for the rest of his life, but now he sees himself looking like he was before he changed into a Cramoisi. "I'm normal"

"For the next 2 hours" Alice added "After that, unless Son-son step I the dark, he will turn back into Cram-Cram. So enjoy it while son-son can.

"Well what are you waiting for?!" Exclaimed Richter. "Are you afraid of heights!?"

"No Why? Richter? Why are you looking at me like that?

Richter Smiled and ran over to Sonic. "BONSAI!"

"Oh man!"

"TO-PI-NO-CHA!" He rammed into him, hugged him tight and ran off the ship and fell off.

"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Screamed Sonic

"HIGH GEE GEE!" Richter shouted

"Richter!" Shouted Chrome "Crazy old echidna!"

"What's with all the crazy shouts and exclaims he's saying?" Amy asked

"He has an assortment of battle cries….some he came up with….others not so much…" Chrome answered.

"Shouldn't we go after them?" asked Lila

"They'll be fine. No one could kill those two." Chrome said "We should land at the Starlight Hangar in a here shortly"

"Starlight Hangar?" asked Amy

"That's close to our home!" said Jem

"Alice made Flash Walkers for all Cram-Cram's!"

"Cool! Said Jayden "I want one!"

"Me too!" said Tawny

Sonic and Richter were falling off from the sky. While holding on to Sonic, Richter saw a hovercar approach them Richter reached out his hand grabs on to the bumper. They then jump on the roof of the building. Sonic was gasping for air at the adrenaline rush.

"WHOA! That was fun, but could you give me a warning next time?" Sonic asked

"Now where's the fun in that? Isn't great to feel alive? Look at this site!" Richter was looking at the large metropolis of the Megalo Station. There were hover cars flying every everywhere and monorails zooming through the electromagnetic rails made of energy.

"Yeah I've been here before" said Sonic "A round the time where I first got my hands on that Ark of the cosmos"

"What? That's crazy! I stole that thing over six months ago"

"I meant the original one"

"Oh Right!" Well why don't we hang around in the city and make our way to the council meeting building to warn them about the arrival of the Criminal lords. But let's have some fun first.

"So why did you bring me, other than testing Alice's device?"

"Haven't you been paying attention, Blue boy? I'm a wanted Criminal here. I need someone like you to vouch for me when I warn the council. Come on lets go" Richter jumped off the building. Sonic then followed after.

_**A big Surprise….a very big one…**_

About thirty minutes later, The Terra sunset lands on a floating platform next to a large, tall building. The stair case comes out from the bottom of the ship. Platform was a part of a tall building one the tallest in the whole city. Chrome was the first to step out of the ship along with Mercury, Dwayne Ryan, Shadow and Rogue. Shadow was looking at himself after putting on Alice's Flash walker.

"I almost forgot what it was like to feel normal" said Shadow

"Yeah, it's weird" Rouge agreed

"Speak for yourself" said Dwayne "You were never born a Vampire or a werehog"

"Ah Captain Chrome" a tall man, with red hair and a white tuxedo, came from the building entrance, with six other Robians with him. "Welcome back" The man saw Alice, Jem, Nai, Malcolm and Ty coming up to them.

"Uncle Leon!" said the twins ruing up to them hugging him

"Jem, Nai! So good to see you! How are my two favorite twins doing?" said the man

"Good!" they both said

"Ah! Little Alice!" Said a woman next to Leon she walked up and hugged her. She had on a blue executive suit with a long blue skirt, but still had her tail coming out of it. "you're getting more adorable every time I see you"

"Jill-Jill!" said Alice hugging back. "Alice missed you!"

"So." Leon started talking "Who are these others with you?"

"The Red Lion is Ryan" Chrome introduced

"How do you do?" Ryan said bowing

"This is Dwayne, one of my closest friends"

"Hey" Dwayne said while lifting his head

"And I do believe you are familiar with Agent Shadow and Rogue.

"Hello!" Rogue said winking. Shadow just stares while waving.

"Last I heard you and Rouge went AWOL in the agency. Something about being murderers" Leon said tilting his head

"Do I look like a murder to you?" asked Shadow

"No, but still…"

"Leon, I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about. He hasn't been performing anything wrong under my watch" Chrome explained

"You make him sound like a lapdog, anyway what brings you here?"

"We have Intel that there will be a gathering of Criminal lords in the city" Chrome explained

"Really?"

"Yes, and we came to warn you. Also the ship is in need of some repairs.

Leon looked at Chrome with a serious face, but then he smiled at Chrome who smiled back. "Very well, I will have our maintenance crew look at it" Leon sends a signal to his men and they walked over to the ship. The rest of the Crew came out of the ship and looked around the city. "Good Greif, Chrome! Are you starting a couples retreat and not telling me about it?"

Chrome smiled "Something like that"

"Well Chrome" Jill sopke "They can go down into the waiting lounge while we discuss our business"

"Very good." Chrome agreed

"Where's our mother and father?" asked Nai

Leon was silent for a moment while looking at the twins. Then he finally answered "They are still way on business. Perhaps we should go inside."

When they all walked in the building they were walking in a large white hallway on their way to the meeting room. The rest of the Cramoisi and Ship mates walked down another hallway leading to the waiting room. As they all walked over to the meeting room they see another man in white with hood on. "By the way" said Leon "Someone has been expecting you."

"Expecting me?" Chrome pondered "is it this man?"

"Do you think it's Madame Darcy?" asked Ryan

The man in the white hood lifts his head while pressing on the key pad next to the meeting room door.

"Not sure. Leon is it by any chance a-" Chrome was cut off.

"You may now enter" the man said. Leon then opened it and walked inside along with Chrome and the others. "They have arrived"

"Splendid! Let them in!"

"Wait, I know that voice" said Chrome He looked down in thought but then his eyes turned to what gave him a shock to his heart. Everyone else was shocked and surprised to see what they were looking at. He saw four different men sitting at the table. Another one was Claw Ransha (the criminal Lord from chapter 10 of blue dusk), the next man was Eggman Nega, then Klaus and finally there was a red ferret wearing a white shirt and a black vest and red tie.

"Captain Chrome" said the ferret "How nice it is to see you." The ferret's eyes were fire red and had black eye liner that made her stare quite evil looking.

Chrome looked at Leon with a serious face. "Leon, Why?"

Leon looked down and sighed. "Captain Chrome….Please…. Try to understand. It was either us or you…. I had no other choice. I'm... Sorry old friend"

Chrome stared at him for moment before answering. "I'm sorry too"

"Klaus!" Shouted Shadow seeing the shrew sitting next to Claw. Dwayne also responds by drawing his claws.

"Hello, Cramoisi filth" Klaus gets up and walks up to them. Chrome then stands in front of Shadow blocking his path.

"Not another step closer" Chrome draws his sword and points it at Klaus

"Relax, echidna…..their time as well as yours will come…."

Alice looks at Eggman and was growling in anger. "RRRAAAAHHHHHH!" Alice screamed as she ran and jumped at Eggman, suddenly she was grabbed by the hooded man.

"You sure you want to be doing that now, child?" he asked taking off his hood. He was a man with a gray coat and black pants. Alice stares at his face; the only thing that was human was his yellow eyes and pale white skin and white hair thinning at the top. The back of his head and his mouth was white with a few holes were the mouth should be. He grabs her by her neck nearly choking her. "Your wild body was bad enough to keep in control." He spoke through the machine on his mouth with a raspy, accent.

"**G-G-General GronMin**!" Alice choked

"hee hee hee hee hee!" Eggman Nega Giggled as he got up looked at Alice who was staring at him with an angry look. "Hello dear child. So what Benedict said was true. You have grown. Tell me, have you reached your ultimate level yet? Can you…Transform completely yet?" All Alice did was glare at him and coughs. "Don't want to talk? Answer me!" he slaps her on the face.

"Hey!" Chrome was about to point his sword at them, but stops when he sees Alice staining, by the man's grasp.

"You're nothing but a disobedient dreck" GronMin said as he takes out a metal rod and presses it on Alice that sends a shock of electricity. She screams in agony. "Arrogant bitch" GronMin then throws Alice at the wall.

"NEGA!" Chrome draws his sword in front of him. Jill runs over to Alice who was sobbing. "Touch her ….and you'll never walk again"

"Idle threats will get you nowhere, captain" Eggman Nega said

"Alice wants daddy!" she cried while hugging Jill.

"This wasn't part of our agreement, Naga!" she shouted "She's just a child!"

"You are under MY Jurisdiction now, and I will do as I see fit to my Robian creations. She's nothing but a flawed weapon"

Jill growls at the two as they sit down at the table. "Damn you, Nega." She glares at the scientist while hugging Alice who was still sobbing. "I'm so sorry…" This isn't normal for her, but without Richter being around and having flashbacks of her distant past was too much for Alice to take.

"Now now, boys. We wouldn't want to rush into things….would we…" said the ferret in a fluty tone.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Shadow when shadow asked he felt a pulsation that made his chest bump, as the young lady walks closer. He felt a powerful evil presence as she gets up to him.

"Salutations Cramoisi…and Dusk raiders….My name is Mora Nomed. I happen to be one of lord Dante's spokesmen."

"What kind of person are you?" Shadow's eyes were tenser then ever staring at the woman as she smiles devilishly. He then draws his sword and points it to her face.

"Now now….are you so sure you want to do that?" She then snaps her fingers. All of them turn and see the side doors open. Their eyes widen as they see who was on the other side. It was Darcy tied up in nith metal binds, being escorted by navi marcoats. One of them push her on the ground and Klaus walks up pointing his sword at her neck and his foot on her head. "You wouldn't want anything to happen to your queen do you?"

"Kill me if you wish…" Darcy's tone was week. "The Cramoisi will keep coming back and put an end to all of you…."

"I will make sure that doesn't happen….dear Darcy" Klaus said

"Mother…" Shadow looks down and withdraws his weapon.

"That's better…now captain Chrome, why don't you and your posse sit down and we can start catching up? Hee hee hee hee…."

_**Scared Past: an old Rival Appears. **_

Sonic was walking with Richter on the streets of Megalo, looking at the locals and cars passing by. "I never realized there were so may Robians here. Is this where you met Alice?"

'Oh no….I…I met her when I was working for Eggman Nega." Richter looks down after saying that.

"Oh yeah. I can't believe you still worked for that guy. How did Alice get mixed up in this?"

"Well…..it started about ten years ago."

Richter's pov

Ten years ago, after my…events at red canyon Zone, Ziggfreed wanted my emerald. So they took me after I destroyed the town. I couldn't remember anything….so they used that to their advantage, gave me a new name and everything. I did some jobs I wasn't too proud of. I stole; I destroyed things, and took lives. I had no idea what I was doing. Ziggfreed and Eggman Nega were looking for ways to trigger the emerald inside me. Fortunately, they couldn't. After a while….i explored around the lab that's when I found a little girl locked in a room. I could see her though a glass window. The only things in that room was a bed and a restroom with no doors or walls.

"So it was like a prison" Sonic said

Bingo. I saw her sitting on the bed hooked up to wires and cords that dangled from the ceiling. She looked so miserable. Then she saw me; right when she saw how lonely I looked. Once she looked in my eyes, I knew for a fact she felt the way I did. She crawled over to the glass wall and put her hand on it, as did I. After that moment, I visited her every day and did the same thing.

"Wow….but why was she locked up?"

Because Nega used her and her brother, Benedict for his experiment to merge robain tech with the DNA of every predator known in existence. She was only four years old when she and her brother's bodies were altered to become the perfect being. Benedict, was a success, but Alice…..

"Yeah?"

She went out of control, turned into her gearterrian form and killed scientists who worked on her and her brother. There was only one survivor; his face was nearly destroyed after being exposed to deadly chemicals, which vitally damaged his body as well, but he managed to make due by replacing his damaged limbs and half of his face with robotic parts. A Scientist named Geoffrey. V GronMin. After they managed to tame her she was locked in that room for two years. She and Benedict never saw each other again.

_**Normal Pov**_

Richter was lying on the wall with his eyes half open looking at the sky.

"Dang….all this time I thought she was just another victim to robotization...but she's really an experiment done by Dr. Eggman Nega?"

"Yes, other than him Ziggfreed , and GronMin, there were other scientist who were in charge who also survived the incident. Alice hates every one of them, especially Nega."

"I see. But how did she escape?"

"After I got my memory back, I had nothing more to do with Nega. So I wanted to run away, and I wanted Alice to come with me, so I broke her out and me along with Malcolm…."

"Wait?!" Sonic stopped "Malcolm is my clone. There's no way Nega could have copied me long before I met him."

"Malcolm…wasn't always your clone. He was a different man. After a while Nega captured him and put his mind inside a body of a blue robotic hedgehog, after his original body was destroyed."

"That's Crazy!" Sonic said

"After Alice was free, well she fell in love with me and called me daddy. But not THAT kind of love she looked up to me like a father."

"Wow…that pretty tight. But what happened to her real parents?"

"Murdered my DonZor, after they were abducted. Alice doesn't remember much, but she keeps thinking about her brother. Her brother was the only one who stayed behind. We've been trying to get him over to us, but…."

"What?" Sonic asked

"Look!" Richter points the park which had many vendors. Sonic looks at the hot dog vendor, Richter looks at the ice cream vendor.

"Hot…spicy…" Sonic rubs his stomach

"Cold….sweet!" Richter licks his lips.

"HIGH GEEGEE!" they both said running to the vendors.

In the park area a Mobian was waiting on a bench listening to an I-paw. He was Green bird with feathers on his head looking like a Mohawk. He was looking around for his fellow rouges.

"What's taking those two bozos so long?" the green bird said in a young, bird like sounding voice. "We got to get ready for the race" He then sees two more people walk up to him. One of them was a giant grey Albatross and another was a smaller pink swallow with a white tank top and white pants. "Heh! Tool you long enough!"

"Sorry Jet, but we had to get you registered" said the Pink Swallow "But now we should be ready for the race"

"No way we going to lose this year!" said the grey Albatross in a deep voice.

"As long as you don't play the tough guy act, Storm!" Jet reminded Wave did you get the new model Type "G"?

"Yup!" said the swallow "I built this one. This race will be ours for the win for sure!"

"Uhhh Boss.." the large Albatross was looking way from the others

"You actually made a replica of this thing?" Jet asked

"Who else is capable of achieving such a feat?" Wave answered

"Boss…"

"UGH WHAT!?" the green hawk was annoyed

Storm points at the figures at the concession stands. One of them was Sonic getting two chili Dogs, and the other was Richter at the ice cream stand. Sonic turned around with two piping hot chili dogs, and Richter turned around with two ice cream cones with three scoops, in the cone. They both smiled looking at their yummy treats.

"Mmmmmmm Hot and spicy!" said Sonic taking a bite.

"Ooooohhhhhhh Cold and Sweet!" Richter sighed licking his ice cream.

Jet looks and sees Richter and Sonic close to each other. "AH! It's Sonic the hedgehog ?! What's he doing here?!" Jet asked pointing at him. Jet was able to recognize Sonic. Ever since Alice gave him the flash walker, Sonic and the rest of the Cramoisi were able to hide in plain sight as their normal selves.

"Richter Solairte is with him too." Said Storm pointing at Richter

"Huh?" Richter snaps out of his fantasy looks at the three birds. "Well, well, what do we have here?" Richter walked up to the three. Jet was staring at Richter with a serious look.

"Jet? Is that you?" Sonic asked walking up.

"You know him, Blue boy?" Richter asked.

"Blue boy?" the birds asked each other while laughing.

"We have a history. But how do you know him Richter?"

"His father and my father were huge rivals in the Criminal underground. He was just a youngin', when I met him. My father was the master of land, his father ruled the skies. So where's he now?"

"Not your concern, where's yours?" Jet asked back

"Not _your _ concern!" Richter said towering over the bird. "You'd better watch it Jet, you got your work cut out for ya!"

"What do you mean?"

"Well there's a new master of the skies and he's standing right here." Richter said pointing at Sonic.

"He won't be for long. Once I win this Grand Prix, _I'll_ take back that title!"

"Well Heh heh! You're still that little bird I remember years ago. But we'll see if your worthy of that title. You see, my rogues are also going to enter in this race, I'd be careful if I were you, I hear Dante' may be in town.

"HA! I ain't afraid of him! You should watch your back! I'm going to win this year!'

"Will see won't we?" Sonic paused for a minute when he felt a strange feeling in his neck. He closes his eyes for a minute to focus. He then sensed many of his Cramoisi brethren in trouble. Richter also felt something similar.

"You feel it too?" asked Sonic

"Yeah, I feel something. Chrome? This is Richter! Come in" Richter started talking on his Com-link "Chrome? Hello? Are you there? Zenith? Merc? Blade? Scar? Dwayne? Anyone? This is Richter, over."

Richter slowly droops his hand and looked down "Nothing Maybe I can pin-point their location" Richter got out a small device that looked like a map.

"What's wrong, Solairte? Afraid to…"

"Shush!" Richter said to Jet.

"Richter." Sonic puts his hand on the device lowering it. "Try to relax, and focus your energy on finding them. Concentrate"

Richter took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He felt all his senses increase. He could read every heartbeat, every sound; he felt all the energy around him. He then could see webs of blood upon those around. He then began to feel the heartbeat of his own brother it was moving a fast pace, like he was nervous. Richter opened his eyes and looked at Sonic. "City hall, the main base of the Starlight hangar, that's where they are. In that direction" Richter pointed to a factory in the east.

"Heh heh" Sonic chuckled "Way to go! So you really are one of us! Let's Go!" Sonic started to run in that direction, but then turns to Jet. "Sorry Jet, we'll see ya in the race!"

"Hey wait a minute!" Jet said

"He,y wait up!" shouted Richter "Later shorts!"

"And they are gone…" Wave sighed.

"Tch! Whatever! Come on guys! I have a race to prepare for"

_**Waging War**_

Chrome and Shadow were looking at their adversaries looking at them. The atmosphere was tense as they look at each other wanting to see who would do what. Darcy was still on the ground looking at the two with sad eyes. Klaus didn't take his eyes off Darcy for a second.

"After 3000 years, we can put an end to all this at once" Klaus said lifting his sword.

"Before you kill me, Klaus, what source of power has kept you living for so long during my slumber?" Darcy asked.

"I suppose I could tell you." Klaus lowers his sword back to Darcy's neck. "I was cursed by the devil himself. He made me wander this world aimlessly until you were dead." Everyone was listening in on this wanting to hear more. "But I now know why I was put on this earth, not to just rid of you, but to change this world. Now with you dead, I can make this world peaceful without you scum around."

"Humph! Do you expect me to believe that?" Darcy said while standing up. "When you were fighting with us, you fought with honor and glory. You and Zerach were the best of brothers, you had an unbreakable bond. I envied you both, and now look at you, too blinded to see the true reason why you were kept alive. What promises have those, who dwindle in the dark, forced down your throat? Money? Power? A foolish notion to rule this world?! UHH!" Darcy was slapped in the face and pinned up to the wall with a sword up to her neck.

"Do not vex me, you witch" Klaus growled "What you plan is far worse than what any demon can conjure up. You damned all these lives for your own selfish reasons, I won't let your evil cloud the minds of these people."

Darcy was coughing and choking, trying to get a word in. "I pity you greatly…Klaus. Your vision isn't clear anymore….you would side with…criminals and demons…just to kill me?"

"The only demons I see are you damn cramoisi!"

"Open your eyes! *cough cough*" She points at the ferret Mora who was walking up to Klaus. "There a demon right there…"

"Now, now." The ferret said "Darcy was it?" Don't be so high strung. Mr. Klaus only wants what's best for the world. He's made an alliance with us and with his wonderful guidance; we can put an end to the underground. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Your alliance is nothing but a ruse to cover up your true ambition. Klaus…deep down I know you can still see that she's lying. Please….don't let her fool you…."

Klaus just narrows his eyes at Darcy and swings his sword, but it was blocked by both Chrome and Shadow. Chrome them pushes Klaus away from Darcy, making him let go. As Shadow tends to Darcy, Chrome starts fighting with Klaus.

"Did your mother ever teach you how to treat a lady?" Chrome asked as he was fighting

"She is no lady!" Klaus continues to swing his sword at Chrome who was blocking every move, Chrome then managed to swing his sword and push Klaus with Gravity pulse, knocking Klaus sword off his hand. Chrome then knocks him down and points his sword down at him. "You've….you've improved….since our last encounter…." Klaus said surprised

"You're brother taught me some things"

"You're learning under him now? Then…that means…NO! You've become a Cramoisi too?!"

"What if I have? Do you hate me now?"

"Now, Now, Mr. Chrome" Mora comes walking over and pats him on the shoulder. "I'd love to see more carnage, but we have matters we must discuss. For starters, I have heard of your recent thieveries against other Criminal Strongholds, your lack of actions with regards to national crimes, and your lack of reports to my master. But the one thing that had me baffled the most was the killings of five other criminal lords, you associates." She comes up and close to Chrome with sad eyes. "Why have you betrayed us? We are supposed to be an organized operation. Why Dante' was just talking to Eggman Naga here about him buying out Meteor tech industries."

"Not possible" the large man GronMin gets up and walks over "Meteor Tech was given to Nega by Scorpio and Libra.

"Those two wouldn't give the company over so easy" Chrome stated.

"So those twins are the ones with the medical problems?" GronMin asked "The last time I check they were robotized because some illnesses. They would have been killed if it weren't for Eggman's Technology. I also know that it was Darcy, who killed the Eggman of this world?"

"That's Right" said Rouge "Eggman's gone and all his knowledge with him."

"No matter" GronMin walks back to his chair "His ideals were lacking vision. A wasted mind that is not needed for this world"

"Well anyway" Mora continued "What do you have to say for your recent actions, Captain?"

"There's not much to say" said Chrome withdrawing his sword" The Dusk Riders are under the command of two Exen Criminal lords, Richter and me. Our actions are based on the Regulation of the Criminal Lord Credo, yes? We steal, we kill, and we do crimes that are known throughout the world. Isn't that enough? After all, Jaygar and Claw were the ones who trained us into being the high class Exen you wanted us to be, so I fail to see the lack of corporation.

"Ah you're right Chrome. But you are forgetting that it is against regulation to interfere with other Criminal lord activities, which you, Chrome are under violation of.

"Do you have proof of me and Richter committing the actions of killing the criminal lords? Any of them could have died of natural causes, or the fact that there plans were not foolproof. Keep in mind it was Sonic the hedgehog and his friends who thwarted the plans and…

"And YOU were the ones who lead them to the strong holds which is also a violation! Do you really think my master would not keep his eye on you or the other criminal lords? Our spies have been watching you since day one of your role as Exen. The spies go everywhere you go. Even in places without Criminal strongholds. You've been very naughty boy, Chromey ." Mercury narrows his eyes looking at the ferret as Mora raps her tail around Chrome.

"And you also where the ones who have housed these Demons." Klaus Spoke "Are you really going to let these two get away with they are doing? Let's finish them now!"

"Relax, Klausy" Mora said "Everything is under control. My master might even show up here and kill them himself."

"G0RR! I'm tired of waiting!" Klaus pushes draws his sword at Chrome and starts fighting with him again. He then whistles and over 10 blue agents appeared with swords in their hands and held them up against the Cramoisi's necks. Chrome then stops to look at all the Cramoisi straining from the blades.

"Now Captain, these Cramoisi are the ones who Mr. Klaus wants dead, and I have a strong feeling that you should join them, unless of course you...come to your senses?" The lustful ferret whispered in his hear leaning on his shoulder.

""What do you mean?" Chrome asked

"Simple, I only ask you this: surrender the Cramoisi over to Mr. Klaus, and I will give you a chance at repentance as a Criminal lord." She then softly rubs her silky hand on Chrome's face, making Mercury even angrier. "My goodness, you're not as cold as you were a moment ago." Mora looks at Mercury smiling deviously.

Chrome looked in the ferrets dark eyes. Chrome took a deep breath. He manages to keep his cool under all this pressure. "I'm not the one to end negotiations with such idle threats. I warn you Mora': the Cramoisi are not to be trifled with.

"Chrome, are you forgetting who you're talking to? Lord Dante's abilities not only outrank you as Criminal lord but also in the uses of elements and Jema weapons, the very pride of the Solairte family if I'm not mistaken.

"My father was able to bring him down once using the **twelve sacred Jema** . What makes you think he has what it takes bring down that of our clan?"

"He's done before; He can do it again... Tenfold. Now I ask you again captain. What will you do about your crew mates?"

Chrome looked around at the Cramoisi who were struggling by the Nith metal blades up to their necks. He then looked at Klaus who was smiling. He was under so much pressure. The lives of his crew mates and the people he was supposed to protect were on the line. He closed his eyes and sighed. "I guess I have no other choice"

"Chrome?" Shadow looks at him s did Darcy who hangs her head down.

"I..." Everyone looked at Chrome before he gave his answer. Klaus was smiling he had a feeling what he was going to say "I-I Call a Pirate wager against you and the imperial lord "

All the others gasped after hearing Chrome. Mora laughed at Chrome in a light chuckle. " Oh, Chromey, I never knew you had such a sense of humor.

"I'm not joking. I place a pirate wager" Chrome said with a straight face.

"Come again?!" Mora widened his eyes "You got to be kidding?! You realize the price of making deals with my master? The risk you are taking is a fate far worse than death. It's absolute and must be followed right down to the letter"

"I'm well aware. I was given a job to watch over the Cramoisi and I'll put my life down if I have to."

"Pathetic!" spat Klaus.

"Oh my…." Darcy was shocked to hear Chrome, but then she smiles.

Mora sighed but the smiled "Alright, It's your funeral"

"Then let it be a good one" Chrome said sheathing his blade. "And also let it be known on my tombstone that I went down fighting"

"How noble. It makes me sick. Fine, name your terms, Captain"

"I bet…that...my friends can win the world Ex Grand Prix. If one of them wins then the Cramoisi, my crew, Dwayne, Ryan, the Megalo Council and I, go free.

"And if you lose?" Mora asked with a wider grin

"….If we lose….. we the Dusk Raiders will be at your disposal"

"Alright…..you got yourself…"

"Wait…also the Cramoisi still remain free"

"WHAT!" Shouted Klaus

"Now why would I let them go?" Mora asked "That black hedgehog kind of looks hot."

"Why wouldn't you? Dante' likes fresh meat right? The Cramoisi are unclean. Uncivilized savages whose only excuse is that they love each other. He would be better of eating Giessian.

"Now that's just rude…" Darcy complained.

"He's not kidding though.." Klaus agreed.

"I assure you that no use trying to eat rancid meat right? And like you said the Cramoisi are weak compared to Dante'. And he will have mine and Richter's power which will make him _**unstoppable**_. And I bet he would reward you handsomely as well. Maybe even make you a Criminal lord too. Savvy?

Mora laughed at Chrome and his bet for a brief moment. "Very well, I Mora Nomed accept the terms of the wager"

"Do you really think I would let you do this? Klaus shouted at Mora "Our deal was-!"

"OUR deal was that you would follow our customs and our regulations of that in the Criminal underground Mr. Klaus." Mora said in a firm tone "it is against the Credo to reject any Wager given, especially to Lord Dante'"

"This is ridiculous! I'm not going to just sit around and just-!"

"Then I suggest you find someone else to do negotiations with regarding the destruction of the Cramoisi, because that is how WE run things here. You agreed to follow our regulations and our rules. If you dare disrespect our customs, we will have no choice but to turn our backs on your offer."

"But!"

"Take it or leave it Mr. Klaus."

Klaus growled in frustration but the closed his eyes and sighed "Very well" he hissed under his teeth

"One more thing" said Chrome "The Cramoisi Remain untouched throughout the whole race. And give us the proper necessities equal to all of the other competitors"

"Agreed" said Mora. "And…' she pulls Chrome up to her face with her tail. "If you lose…you become my personal man servant."

"What?!" said Mercury and Chrome.

"I will be pulling the shots of the Dusk raiders, and you will do as I say, forever"

"Uhhh….accepted…" Chrome sighed after hearing it. Mercury walks up and pulls Chrome away from Mora.

"Despicable…." Darcy feels the agents let her go.

"Now, all of you. You've got work to do, so get ready for the big race" she gives Chrome a wink and walks back to her chair. "Now go…and take your…King with you…"

The blue agents bring in another person who had on a pair of nith metal hand cuffs. It was Zerach who walked in and was released by Klaus.

"I kept you away because I thought that the spell she had under you would go away, and we can change this world forever. It's not too late, Zerach. Join me, brother. We can end this foolishness once and for-"

"You're wasting your time" Zerach interrupted. "I will not betray the woman I love."

"But you would betray your own brother?!"

Zerach just turns his head to him and back to the door. "My brother died long ago. All I see is his shadow." He then walks out the door without another word.

"Yesh…Anyway…leave all of you" Mora waves her hand

As they walk out, Alice gave one last cold stare to Eggman Nega who as grinning devilishly. Everyone was out for the room leaving the five behind.

"Why are we doing this?" Klaus asked with his head toward the door. "I want them all dead!"

"We are Criminals Mr. Klaus, and even criminals have regulations" GronMin spoke.

"Well Klaus" Eggman Nega started "If you are so interested in getting the Cramoisi then might I suggest you look for a loophole in the bargain that was made?"

Klaus turned to Nega "What do you mean?" he asked calmly

"Ms. Mora was the one who agreed not to touch the Cramoisi, I however was not part of the bargain in any way whatsoever" Eggman Nega explained.

"Wait what?" Klaus asked bewildered "You planed this didn't you?"

"I told you Mr. Klaus, this is how we handle things here. Being a part of a huge organization…allows you to have some…benefits and allies in high places. Surly you would know something about allies considering the fact that you have been alive longer than any other living creature"

Klaus looked down and closed his eyes. "I haven't had trusting allies in a long time"

"Mmmm…how sad" Mora walks up and lays her arm on his shoulder. "Nevertheless we shall let them have their fun. Rest assured; we will all have our fill of pleasure. In the mean time we will be spending lots of time together. You seem like a fun guy. Eee hee hee hee hee!"

_**(((((Machine Path Zone~ Act 1~A Race through the factory)))  
><strong>_**BGM: Sweet mountain Act 1**

Sonic ran down the metal rail leading to the factory, and runs down the metal road looking at a structure leading in the factory. He used the structure to reach the higher elevation and runs down the rail line. He looks inside and sees the massive factory, bigger than anything he's seen. As he runs down the metal road, he does homing attacks on some nearby robot workers to get up higher and grab on a moving hook. He jumps down and into a chute where he turns into a ball and dashes through the ventilation shaft. When he reaches the other side he jumps on a nearby platform that takes him over a giant fan. He jumps off and onto another metal rail and does a speed dash and dashes through many of the upcoming loops and inclines and landing on another ledge. Here he sees a conveyer belt going forward. He jumps on and lets it carry him farther, but he was taken by surprise when he sees a pile driver nearly pound him. Ignoring the massive pound he keeps moving forward a avoiding the pile drivers ahead. Sonic also used the working pistons to get through the machines, without letting them crush him. He was able to maneuver through the large gears and turners with ease as if it was metal escalator. When he reaches another shaft he jumps in and lets it carry him into another room

_**(((((Act 2~the ongoing assembly line))))**_  
><strong>BGM: Machine labyrinth Act 2<strong>

Sonic comes out of the chute and into a large room with a series of machines and conveyor belts.

"Well look who I found" Sonic looks on a machine and sees Richter holding a robot head.

"How did you get ahead of me?" Sonic asked astonished

Richter jumps down and scratches his chin. "I took a short cut…anywho. For us to move on, we have to make all the belts go in one direction. I'll get them to work. Follow me"

Richter leads Sonic down one of the fastest moving belts on the line. The belt leads to a large machine with two leavers. Just as Sonic was about to go to one, a small battalion of robots showed up and spotted the two of them. Richter runs up to one with his hammer and smashes one on the head. He then picks it up and throws it at the others. Sonic also attacks by doing a series of homing attacks on the rest. When they were all down the two of them pull on the two leavers causing three of the conveyer belts to change direction.

"Alright, Sonic. Just two more and we can go straight to the foundry"

Sonic and Richter jumped down the large machines and on to the lower platforms and ran up a metal ramp on to another metal platform. As they looked below they saw many Conveyer belts and hooks going in different directions. On the Belts they saw seats of hover cars and many other different parts. Sonic jumped on one of the hooks which lead to an even bigger room. Richter was not too far behind. They jumped off, and saw the last machine with another two leavers. They then see a large robot with a massive hammer show up.

Richter quickly responds by throwing his hammer at the robot causing him to tumble and fall. Sonic then finishes it off by doing a series of homing attacks on it until it falls apart.

The two then pull on the last two leavers, and with that the rest of the belts went in one direction.

"Ok, that's the last one. Let's get moving" Sonic said jumping on the nearby conveyer belt.

"Righty-o!" Richter jumps on and follows

_**((((Act 3~the brimming foundry))))**_  
><strong>BGM: Sweet Mountain Act 3<strong>

Sonic looks ahead and runs down another metal road. As he was running he could see rivers of boiling hot metal below. He jumps over the river and onto another metal rail and runs forward leading to another large clearing where he could see the rest of the factory. When he jumps down he sees robots walking everywhere.

"Intruder! Get him" the robots all go after Sonic, but Sonic just smiles and makes a small tornado blowing away all the robots and into the liquid metal. Sonic advances and runs up the rails and grinds on the nearby steel beams to get across. He looks down and sees the massive pool of hot liquid brimming to the top.

"Guess a city of robots needs a big factory" Sonic said to himself

Sonic then jumps on another line of hooks and hangs over the pool. Up ahead he sees a metal box and jumps on in. He was then on another conveyor belt. Sonic was about to take a breather when he sees another pile driver. He quickly gets off and onto another metal road.

"Boy that was close"

"Yeah it was…GAH!" Sonic sees Richter waving at him "Is this going to be a normal thing for you?!"

"Is what going to become normal?"

"You! Sneaking up on people!"

"I've been sneaking up on people?"

Sonic slaps his forehead and just walks away from Richter.

"Man, with all this metal I can't really use earth" said Richter "Oh well"

As they ran they saw large claws reaching down into the liquid and pulling out massive machine parts, and being carried out of the room.

"This place is huge!" said Richter

"You already said that" said sonic

"I did? Oh well it's still huge" They jump on the rails and grind down and saw almost every inch of the foundry. "I think we should be approaching the end!" They jumped of and ran down a road leading to the exit. As they run down the road they heard a strange mechanical noise. They turn around and see a giant grinning robot with four Arms. Two of arms looked like it had a pair of buzz saws for hands. It was a hovering purple robot with a yellow face.

"Oh Great the interceptor has a brother" said Richter

"You dealt with it too?" asked Sonic

"Oh yeah back in Alpotos."

"Yeah it was pretty annoying"

The robot throws its hand at the two while they were still running. Sonic jumped out of the way, and right in front of Richter. "Hey, Spin into a ball!" commanded Richter.

"What?"

"Trust me"

Sonic spins not into his spin-ball form. Richter grabbed sonic and jumped behind the bot. Richter summoned his hammer and aimed for the bot.

"Batter up!" He said as he hit Sonic with his hammer and right at the bot like a speeding bullet. The bot fell down and blew up. Richter ran up to Sonic who was standing up.

"Man! What's that hammer made of?!" He asked rubbing his head

"The hammer is made up of an Chrome and steel Alloy with a copper handle" Richter explained "As you can see here from the mallet here it's pure cranium steel surface allows me to even crack the surface of almost anything imaginable. When it was transfigured into a jema, was known to the strongest mortal made hammer ever…or so they say"

"Then you could have killed me that?!" Sonic said surprised

"No. 1. I didn't hit you that hard, and 2. You can't die remember?"

"That wasn't hard?" Sonic asked with wide eyes.

" *Laughs* Not even close" Richter said in a serious tone

Sonic and Richter ran out of the factory. Sonic saw a large capsule with a large button. Sonic jumped on in and the capsule opened up releasing a bunch a flickies. "Ha…some things never change"

_**((((Machine Path ~All three acts completed)))))**_

_**Sonic: Oh yeah I'm good!**_

_**Richter: Sweet Victory! **_

Sonic and Richter, walked out of the factory. They saw the main council building. It looked like it was about five miles away.

"*Yawn* Man it's been so long since I felt this free!" said Sonic

"Feels good, don't it?" asked Richter "Maybe there may be a way where Alice can make it to stay out here even longer"

"That would be awesome!" Sonic then hears something approaching. He and Richter look up and see a huge dragon like robot slowly hovering over to them. It had three heads each a different color and different look. On the middle head was a metal dome that opens up and shows Eggman Nega.

"Greetings, my old assassin!" Nega said to Richter. Richter just glares at him after bringing up the past. "I hear you have been causing a mess in my factory. We can't have that now, can we?"

"Didn't need the Eggman of this world's permission to destroy his machines" Sonic said "We were doing you a favor, but don't worry. We'll be sure not to leave you out"

"Hee hee!" I won't mess up like my dead counterpart. I'll destroy you and bring you to Klaus myself GAH HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

"Rock paper scissors?" Richter asked Sonic "Whoever wins gets to take him down"

Sonic and Richter count and show off their hands. "Richter had Rock and Sonic had paper. "AH! Paper beats rock! See ya!" Sonic dashes off seeing the robot hover backwards.

"AWWW! How does paper beat rock anyway?"

_**(((Robot Boss fight~ Egg Hydra)))))  
>BGM: Vs Orcan and Skullian <strong>_

Sonic ran down a lit up road avoiding the cars and traffic and collecting rings. The Robot was flying down right in front of sonic, and let out another roar.

"You don't scare me!" he said with a cocky grin. The robots Right head fired an ice beam, freezing everything in its path. Sonic jumps out of the way, but then the left head fires a lightning bolt. Sonic nearly dogged that one, and continued running after it. Then the middle head fired a flamethrower. This blast hit Sonic and made him drop his rings. Sonic kept running and saw flying bots hovering in front of the Dragon. Sonic used his homing attack to get himself up to the middle head and hit Eggman Nega's mobile.

"AHHH!" he screamed which made the dragon fly back faster. (It was flying backwards to begin with). The dragon fired another ice beam at sonic. Sonic slowed down and let the beam hit the road he was on. Sonic jumps on the trail of ice and grinds on the frozen rail. At the end he jumps up and uses his homing attack on the right blue head. The right head let out a loud roar and its head stated to smoke. Sonic jumped down and continued running on the road.

"Is that the best you got?!" he said smiling

"Not quite!" Nega answered. The three heads charged their energy, and then launched an all-out attack on sonic making a large beam of the three elements of fire, ice, and lightning. Sonic couldn't jump out of the way, and got blasted by the beam, and was thrown back. Sonic was down for a minute, but then got up and continued running. He then jumped to a nearby building and went for the left yellow head. He jumped from building to building until he reached the top and used his homing attack on the left head. The Dragon lets out another roar as its left head began to smoke as well. Sonic then aimed for the middle red head and hit Nega dead center. Sonic then jumped back down to the ground, and saw all three heads smoking. The dragon then fired another large beam at the Sonic. Sonic used his quick step and moved over to the side to dodge it. The bean was strong, but Sonic was too fast for it. Sonic saw another chance when he saw more flyers hovering over the road he used his homing attack and went for the blue head. He hits the blue head, then goes for the yellow head, and hits it. And finally he goes for the middle red and delivers the final blow. The heads were smoking and sparking with fire and smoke as the dragon itself was slowing down.

"NO WAY! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" Nega screamed as he, and the robot dropped to the ground and blew up. Sonic looked at satiation and smiled.

"Heh! Heh! You call that a bot? Just as weak as the real Eggman."

_**(((Robot boss~ Egg Hydra defeated))))**_

**Sonic; Now a really feel nostalgic for Eggman, ok not that much. **

Sonic walks up to the destroyed robot and Eggman Nega laying on the ground.

"You….did it…blue boy…" Richter runs up gasping for breath. "Hold on….*pant* I need…..*whew* Don't puke…must not…puke….*Gag*"

Sonic quickly turns around and walks up to Nega who wasn't moving. "Did i…." He walks up to him trying to see if he's ok. Suddenly he sees Nega's head pop out of his belly. "Whoa!"

"Mah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" the head spoke. "You're both fools! While we were playing our little game of cat and mouse, master Klaus along with a few of my new friends have trapped _your_ friends and are about to finish them off once and for all!"

"It's just a dummy!" Sonic declared

"Damn!" Richter cursed "I should have seen this coming! We got to get there now!"

"Tick-Tock, gentlemen. Your time is just about out. Oh...and speaking of time" the robot starts beeping.

"That doesn't sound good" Richter said.

Before they knew it the robot explodes causing them to get blown away

"WHHOOOAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Sonic screamed

"I'm GUNNA KILL HIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMM!" Richter shouted

_**The smashing plan**_

Back at the Laboratory. Everyone was sitting at a large round table. Raygen activated a holo-projector. Revealing the entire race course.

"This is the main diorama of the entire race" Leon stated "This race will determine the winner for the world cup. The race will be divided into 7 different courses, each one with every different kinds of environments.

Chrome and Tails looked at the holographic image that resembled the tracks.

"It looks like the race will be a big one" said Chrome "

"How many of us can race?" asked Tails

"Anyone with gears" said Leon "But I think it's best that only a few of you race. Obviously, the ones with the most speed and skill.

"But with more racers, won't we have a better chance at winning?" asked Amy.

"Yes, but …."

Everyone stopped for a minute when they heard a faint noise.

…..aaaaaaa…..

"What's that?" asked Tails

"Don't know" said Amy

aaaaaaaaaaa…..

"It's coming from outside" said Zenith walking over to the window. He saw two specks in the sky. "They're…getting closer".

aaaaaaAAAAAA…..

"And…heading straight for us. Heh! (Laughs) WAIT! WHAT?!" Zenith looked back and saw he was right.

AAAAAAAAAHHHH…

"EVERYONE HIT THE DECK!" Zenith screamed as the specks got closer and closer to the glass window

AAAHHHHHHH! *CRASH!* Richter came in head first on the ground in the lab. He slowly got up. "Sharp…p-p-pain…" he said slowly "OOWWWW! Awww! Ouch…"

Sonic came and landed on Richter's back." Ohhh Man My head hurts! Hey everyone!

"SONIC!" Amy screamed hugging him.

"I didn't recognize you for a minute. I almost forgot how beautiful you were." Said Sonic

(Reminder: All Cramoisi are wearing the flash walkers that Alice gave them)

"Oh stop it not in front of everyone!" Amy giggled

"AHEM! Lover boy! Down here!"

Sonic looked around and saw he was sitting on Richter.

"Yeah umm Hi. Would you mind GETTING YOU BLUE BUTT OFF ME?!"

"Oh sorry!" sonic said getting up. Richter got up shaking in pain.

"Richter are you Ok? Asked Lila.

"OTHER THEN THE PAIN OF A THOUSAND NEDDLES STABBING ME AT ONCE…I feel fine." He said calmly.

"Is everyone alright?" Sonic asked

"Acually…I need to tell you something" said Chrome

_10 minutes later_

Richter was healing is injuries. Lila was feeling the same cuts he got from the glass, but Richter was slowly healing them all one by one. "Feel better?" He asked

"Yes thank you" Lila said

Richter took a deep breath and looked at his brother." So….Dante is coming…."

"Yes" Chrome finished " Nega,Claw, GronMin and even Klaus are here as well. They all set a trap for us, I was only able to save us with a pirate wager.

"Well we already met Naga…kind of…" Sonic said "That's how we ended up here"

"I'm glad to see everyone is alright" Richter suddenly feels Alice come up and hug him.

"Oh daddy it was awful!" she said "GronMin was here and he and Nega were mean to Alice! She missed you!"

"Aww poor girl" Richter hugs her back and pets her hair.

"Umm, Alice how are the modifications going?" asked Amy.

"Mi-Mi (Amy) doesn't have to worry Alice has everything under control" Alice lets go of Richter walked over to Tails and gave him a little memory card "This has everything you need to suit up you gears as well"

Tails looked at the card with his small computer. It was a yellow device with a small screen "Whoa!" he looked at every last detail that the card contained. "This is perfect! We should be able to win no problem with this!"

"Well do keep in mind that it is a race sponsored by the Criminal underground" Leon reminded "meaning that anything goes in this race. Survival is the main priority"

"Yeah, Yeah, Alice has everything taken care of! There's no way she'll let her family serve that Big meane!"

"Excellent…now we just need to know. Who is going to race?" Leon turns to the group.

"Have you children made a choice?" Darcy asked.

"Well I'm definitely going to without a doubt" Sonic said stepping up.

"Yeah! So am i!" Richter said jumping

"You, Richter? You're not even fast." Sonic said "You couldn't keep up with me when we were in the factory"

"My gear may not be a speed type, but I am the most evasive and skilled on my bike"

"He has a point." Leon said

"I'll Race as well" Shadow said

"Me too!" Silver jumps to the opportunity. "I can easily fly over everyone."

"Captain" Onyx walks up to Richter. "I'll race as well"

"You can count me in!" Zenith said

"And me" Malcolm also steps in.

"Alright!" Richter said

"I think that should do it" Leon said. "Now we just need to get work on the gears. Alice, Tails?"

"Right!" they both said.

_**One night later**_

Alice and Tails finished the modifications on the gears who volunteered. The next morning, the racers put on their racing garments and checked out their new gears.

Richter looked at the modifications done to his gear. It's features were more advanced than before.

"Alice, you really out did yourself this time." Said Richter

"These gears travel on every terrain imaginable. It can hover over water, speed across magma, corners like a dream and both air and gravity boosts! That's not all. It can monitor speed and morph in to different shapes. And each one has a power up feature that allows the board to adapt to its rider in its own style" Alice explained. "Alice has been working on this for some time. She was going to do some more tests but she's certain that they should work.

"Sweet! said Sonic .

"Hey what about us?" asked Tawny

"Sorry Mobians only." Said Alice

"Aww but I want to race!" whined Jayden

"If we win, Alice will make you all gears of your own"

"You promise?" asked Saphron

Alice placed her hand over her chest "Cross Alice's Life cell and hope to Crash"

"Ok!" said the three

"So…what do we need to do?" Zeke asked

"Checking the stats of the gears of course, Alice will brief you all on what you need to know"

"Very good" said Nate "Shall we be on our way to the racetrack?"

"Yeah! Let's go!" said Sonic.

"YEAH!" many of the raiders and Cramoisi ran out the door.

"WHOOOO! YEAAAAAHHH!" Richter said running out with them

"RICHTER! The race is this way!" said Tails.

"TOPINOCHA!" Richter screamed. Alice and the others looked at the door.

"That Echidna is a nutjob!" said Tawny

"but he's Alice's nutjob!" said Alice "Anyway, let's go to our booths! Mommy can come too! Come on! Let's Go, Go GO!" Alice rolled out of the room, while they all looked at her.

"They're both nut-jobs!" said Tawny

"Yes but she's MY nut-job." Said Ty

Darcy looks at the human children and laughs a bit.

"Oh" Alice crawls over to Darcy and Zerach. "Here Alice has already given flash-walkers to the Cram-Cram's."

"Flash walker?" Zerach looks at the device and puts it on his chest, Darcy does the same.

"Now push the button" Alice said

The two of them push the button and their bodies start to transform. Zerach looked like a normal Shrew with no wings and hazel eyes. Darcy didn't look much different. Her fur was darker, and she still had wings and fangs coming from her mouth and her eyes were blood red.

"Oh my!" Zerach looks at himself astonished. "It has been years since I have seen myself this way!"

"The marvels of your technology!" Darcy said

"Now let's go and win us a race!" Alice lead everyone out

"Oh how exciting!" Darcy said excited

"Did you ever look at races when you were little, Mother?" Saphron asked

"Oh yes!" Darcy said smiling "I enjoyed friendly competition. I can remember the days of my youth when I was just a young queen. Come. I shall tell you all about it. Darcy and the others walk out of the room. They were walking down the hall listening to Darcy talk.

"Oh dear" Zerach said smiling and walking out. They have gotten her started again…"

"It started when the Cramoisi elders told me that I needed to stop my studies and explore the world." Darcy started talking. "That's when the children of our tribe started playing with me. Oh they were cheeky for letting me win almost every game, so I ordered them to play fair, but they were still timid about winning.

(Ten minutes later)

"My sisters were strong, but I managed to beat them every time."

"What ever happened to your sisters?" Saphron asked

"Oh that's a story for another time. A few months later, it wasn't long after I wanted to try playing havoc"

"Havoc?" Lori asked

"It's a game where you have to get a ball into the goal. The one who makes the most points wins"

"That doesn't sound bad…" Jayden said

"It wasn't…..if you like bringing down your enemies in a graphic brawl and beating your opponent until they can no longer stand and you fight your way to the goal and the last team standing wins." Darcy was speaking nonchalant when she said this. Many of the children cringe at the thought of the game while Tawny and Lori were smiling at it.

"We've so got to play that game!" Tawny pleaded

"NO!" Said the Cramoisi children, (even the non-Cramoisi children)

"The Cramoisi would heal right after the game." Darcy said "Now that game wasn't at all bad compared to **survival.** Now that game had children in their bed for about a week"

"Oh yes!" Zerach said "Even my tribe tried their hand at it. Surprisingly even after the bed of spikes they survived the bludgeoning activities. Of course, poor Milton was in comatose for about a month or two….but they loved his fighting spirit!"

"Oh…I feel just awful for punching him in the stomach…" Darcy said. "I could have sworn I heard his bones crack…"

"Oh he recovered after that…." Zerach said smiling.

"Ohh! Tell us! Tell us!" Lori and Tawny said "Tell us more!"

"I don't think I can take anymore…." Zeke and Jayden said.

_**The Big Race**_

Sonic and the others were walking down the hall talking. The robian leaders made their way to their own booth. When the racers made their way to the track, they could see the seven story high bleachers and several box seats. Sonic could see large gates in some places in the tack.

"What are those?" Sonic asked

"Warp gates" Richter said

"Warp gates?" Silver asked

"You'll find out heh heh…"

Everyone came to the Main race track. There were sixteen racers that showed up at the starting line Sonic and the others looked around and saw everyone, cheering. Sonic looked around and saw Jet walk up to him, with a cocky grin.

"Heh! So you made it in huh? I'm still going to beat you!" he insulted

"Good luck to you too Jet" said Sonic smirking

Onyx looked around and saw a gray fox and his gear. They both stare at each other for a brief moment. The gray wolf just walks past onyx.

"Man…this is going to be fun!" Richter said "Good luck Zenith"

"I don't need it, Richter" Zenith said smiling. "Nothing is faster than lightning!"

All the other raiders were sitting in the first row of the bleachers, Darcy and the other Cramoisi where not too far from them. Darcy saw the others and smiled, but was too excited about the race to go see them.

"Oh this is most thrilling!" said Darcy "I haven't seen such an event in a long time! Why didn't we have activities like this before? It seems much less violent"

Zerach was a happy but at the same time shocked at the expressions his wife was been showing. He hasn't seen her so excited in years. It made him almost as excited as her. All the other Cramoisi were getting in to the excitement as well. Zerach sat there and smiled with his eyes closed laying back.

"Welcome to the world EX grand prix Ladies and Gentlemen!" said a Female announcer. "This is your lovey announcer Suzie Steelwright here to give you the head scoop on the race ahead. This will be a race through many of the most dangerous courses throughout the world. I hope you're as excited as I am, this will also be race through the 7 of the most exotic of places throughout out the world. The winner will be crowned champion of the world EX Grand prix and receive the world cup for number one racier. Let's lit the contest get under way! The crowd cheered seeing all the racers on the big screen.

"Let's meet our racers!"

"Our very own Megalo Station, champion; It's Groove!" An entirely metal hedgehog with black sclera and red eyes comes up to the starting line.

"The extreme gear champion from Blue ridge zone; It's Crystal" A cyan cat comes up holding her gear waving at the audience.

"Returning after five years of retirement; Sharp!" A black rat comes up with dancing while waving at making the rock and roll devil horns.

"Coming all the way from…" 

Sonic got out his gear disk and was getting ready to go along with the others.

"This is it!" said Richter "This race will be all or nothing. If we don't win….NO! we will win! I have to believe. No matter what! If I lose at least sonic is still in this.. All of our fastest raiders are in this race. No way were going to lose!"

"That's the spirit Richter!"

"Entering a member from the Dusk raiders: It's Onyx!" Onyx steps up holding his gear but keeping his head down as the crowd cheered.

"A second racer representing the dusk raiders and a robian to boot: Malcolm!" Malcolm walks up and gives a thumbs up.

"And Just appeared from the shadows of who knows where; Damien Price!" the gray wolf comes up to the starting line with his head down. He then looks at Onyx but then looks back at the start.

"Wait a minute…" Sonic looks at the wolf as if he's seen him before. "Could that be….."

"Next up, is the legend of wind; Jet!" Jet comes up and waves at the fans while clapping his hands.

"That's right baby! Who's the best?!" Jet said clapping.

"The ultimate life form and a protector of the world; Shadow the hedgehog!" Everyone cheered even louder seeing Shadow walk up. He even heard some girls scream.

"The time traveler from two hundred years from now when we're all scrap metal; Silver the hedgehog!" Silver walks up and hears the cheering while waving his hands and laughing.

"Show off…" Shadow rolls his eyes

"And we have a another hedgehog…who is uhhh..also a member of the dusk raiders…..:Zenith" Suzie wasn't very enthusiastic saying his name.

"Thank you thank you! HA HA! Great to be here!" all that was heard was very light clapping followed by crickets chirping a random man coughing. Zenith opens his eyes and narrows his eyes. "Oh yeah….sure….Let's all laugh at the yellow hedgehog"

"And the captain himself! The solar tremor of the dusk raiders: Richter Solairte!" the crowd cheered the loudest yet

Richter jumps up knocking Zenith down posing. "Thank you! Thank you!"

"Ehhhh…" Zenith was on the ground growling and narrowing his eyes.

"And now, the returning champion from last year, you all know him as the fastest thing alive, the blue blur himself, Sonic the hedgehog!" the crowd cheered the loudest of as Sonic walks up to the starting line. Because of the flash walker no one knows he was a Cramoisi.

"The rules are simple, there are none. Race hard and bring home the gold. Ok racers to your positions!" The racers walk up to the markers behind the starting line. "Ok, now activate the jumper gate!" Everyone sees a stream of electricity appear in front of the starting line. "Start up the warp gate!" In front of them a large blue wall appeared and was glowing brightly. "Racers! On your gear!" Everyone jumped on their gears and started to move forward and trying not to get zapped by the jumper gate.

5…4….3…2….1…..GO!

One racer started too soon and was shocked by the jumper gate before it disappeared.

"OH! Looks like Sharp jumped at the starting line! Those five years of retirement were anything but kind! But it looks like the other racers have managed to avoid getting shocked and are entering the warp gate!" 

"Way past cool!" Sonic looked around as if he was surrounded by a wormhole-like anomaly

At the end of the hole came a white light and then there was a bright flash refilling the first course

_((((((1__st__ course Splash Canyon)))_

Please pay attention to the large screen s we see the racers enter the first course! Everything is looking good so far. Gee, I wonder how long with will be before they kill each other...let's find out"

Sonic was riding up ahead dashing through the forest, dodging past the trees, with Jet not too far behind They were fighting for the league while Zenith was right behind him. He used his electricity to dash across the trees and try to get ahead of the leaders. Richter was in Sixth trying to get in the lead, but behind him came two robots with blasters. Richter turns around and sees the bots; he then rides into a ticker part of the forest and slows down letting the bots run ahead. The bots turn around seeing Richter, but didn't see the two trees that were in their way, and they both ran into them. Before they knew it both bots where destroyed in a fiery explosion. Richter speeds up and end up back in Sixth The gray wolf watched from behind and even though he did not show it he was impressed but Richter's talent.

"Sonic and Jet are neck to neck in this race, not one of them giving an inch! Groove is actually behind both of them trying to keep up, but to no avail. Followed by the yellow hedgehog who's jumping around like an electric jelly bean. Malcolm is up next, tailing the racers head, but with that armor it's not going to be easy! Richter isn't too far behind as we look at a master of thievery he is an expert of evasive maneuvering and skill! Behind him is Onyx who he's dashing like a bullet in seventh. He's using his speed to dodge all the trees and rocks blocking his path. Behind him is Damien, who is riding his board. Not much known about this racier but just by the look that he means business! All leading racers are now heading to the next warp gate. It looks pretty close ladies and Gents but it's still anyone's race.

_((((((2__nd__ course; Metal City)))))))_

The large screen was showing picture of all the racers leaving the jump gate and riding through a massive metallic city.

In the race Sonic was in the lead right behind shadow and followed by Malcolm. Onyx was next and then Zenith and finally Richter.

"Looks like the race is already heating up for our racers. Sonic is in the lead showing off his moves. He's jumping on rails and grinding with incredible speed. Shadow is use his gravity control to make a sharp turn over the large gaping chasm and makes a nice landing. Malcolm and the other yellow guy are neck to neck. Oh, but look the yellow guy tries to speed up but it's not enough for Malcolm as he boost with his speed shoes. Richter speeds up a head of Onyx by destroying the brick obstacles in his way. 

Jet speeds up all the way up to Sonic.

"You're not going to win against me!" he shouted at Sonic.

"you just don't give up do you" Sonic shouted back.

The leading racers then showed up at another gate and went right through it. At the end they went into the next track.

Klaus was looking at the screen and seeing the raiders and Cramoisi in the lead. "GGGRRRR! Do something! There winning!" he shouted

"Calm down you pesky rat!" said GromMin fighting his metal fist "It's still early in the race."

"Even so" Nega started "I think it's time we started our little…activity"

_((((3__rd__ Course: Metropolis speedway))))))_

"We are now in the third track ladies and Gents, through Empire city in the metropolis speedway! The racers are giving it there all, but it looks like Sonic the hedgehog is owning this race"

Shadow was dashing in third, jumping over ramps and doing amazing tricks. Right above him was two robots aiming to shoot him down. Shadow looked up and fired a small chaos spear at them. They dogged the shot and fired at him. Shadow warped out of the way, and fired another. This one only shot one of them. The last bot fired another shot but this one hit the racer behind Silver. Malcolm saw this and dashed to the racer's aid. He caught the racer before he could hit the ground.

"Thanks" the racer was the black rat, Sharp. Beside Malcolm came two Robians riding a hover craft wearing shirts with red crosses. "Gah! Maybe it was a bad idea coming out of retirement." Malcolm left the racer with the Robians gave them both a salute and took off.

"Come on hedgehog!" said Jet "It's this the best you can do?"

"Jet, listen to me!" said Sonic "I'm not racing for fun this time. I've got to much riding on this race.

"Well so am i!"

"No I mean this could determine the fate of my friends!"

"Save it! I don't want to hear it! You're going down!" Jet used his air boost to dash ahead of him. Sonic sighed and just did the same thing chasing after the cocky bird. The racers were riding through the neon lit city showing off their moves and getting the best of everyone. They were almost through the next course. Richter was dodging all the obstacles and showing off tricks only a power type like him could. .

"Go Richter!" shouted Lila as she was looking at him at the plasma screen.

"Go get em' Sonic!" shouted Tails

This is so exciting!" said Darcy "Go Sonic! Richter! Shadow all of you! Win for us!" Darcy was cheering along with everyone else.

_((((((4__th__ course Aquatic capital)))))))_

"We're almost half way through this exiting race. We're down to the last twelve racers and things are starting really exciting! Everyone is racing across the watery roads and avoiding all the blockades and making it past all the obstacles in there way! Sonic and Jet are still neck to neck. Shadow is following behind, Malcolm is shredding past the water like a motor boat. Onyx is dashing up against the wails and the yellow guy is jolting through the water like a lightning bolt? Well anyway Damien is speeding his way past Onyx and on his way to the leading racers. As for Richter, it looks like our ace thief is falling behind in eighth!

"Heh heh! Now to have some fun!" Richter said holding his AOC and preforming a gravity dive launching him ahead of the racers and blowing them away. Richter sped ahead of Onyx and was almost up to the grey wolf. The gray wolf used his air boost to speed up. Richter used his Gravity dive to speed up all the way up to him. Richter got a good look at the wolf; as they both stare at each other. Richter then smiled and dashed ahead of him. He was all the way up to Zenith.

"He Cap! Here to see a real racer and his finesse?" Asked Zenith

"Finesse? You're in fourth place!" Richter said "All I see is you showing off!"

"not for long!" Zenith tried to use his gravity dive, but to no avail. "OH NO!"

"You know what they say Zenny: If there is no juice it's no use!" Richter laughed as he dashed ahead using his air.

"OOOHHH I'm GONNA GET YOU!" Zenith said trying to boost but couldn't.

"OHHH a snappy comment done by Richter, but it's going to take a lot more to catch up with the our leaders as we head on to the fifth track.

"You know this race doesn't seem that long!" said Malcolm to Richter coming up to him

"I ain't complaining! After all Sonic's in first so it's all good!"

"But if Jet wins then we'll lose the bet!"

"Then we'll have to make sure we don't lose! Catch up with Jet !"

"Understood!"

"GAH! That hedgehog, he's winning!" Klaus was eating some fancy food served by one of the minions.

"Oh please relax, Klausy" Mora said "We're only half way through. Now…why don't you have some cookies. I made them myself.

Klaus just jets up after putting a sandwich in his mouth, while walking to Gronmin. "Tell your minions to get it together or so help me…*cough* *cough* " Klaus grabs on to his neck.

"I don't need you to tell me how to run my business, Mr. Klaus. This is my operation, and I will run it as I see fit. Do you understand me?" Klaus kneels down with his face turning red, coughing. "Mr. Klaus! I said do you understand me?! What's the matter with you?!"

"He's choking, you idiot!" Mora runs over and gives him a Heimlich maneuver, making Klaus cough up a piece of bread. "Are you ok?"

"Yes." Klaus said sighing. "General, hurry up and finish those Cramoisi!"

_(((((((5__th__ course: Crimson Crater)))))))) _

_**We are now in the fifth track, The Crimson Crater! **_

Sonic was in the lead behind Jet who was trying to keep up. Sonic jumped off the ramp and was riding on the wall. He flew up all the way to the top and saw something a head. It was a large bot with big arms and with a grinning face. Sonic dashed past the bot but it then followed Sonic and was attempting to attack him.

"Whoa! Incredible! A giant bot appeared out of nowhere in front of Sonic! And it looks like, he's trying to attack him! Oh my! How will our hero escape this large menace? 

The bot attacked Sonic with his big arms, but Sonic jumped and avoided every attack. Onyx saw the bot and got out his daggers. He then clipped them together and the blades started to glow a black aura; he threw the blade at the bot slicing it in half. Sonic looked back and gave Onyx a thumbs up. Sonic however didn't see that he took that to his advantage and took the lead. Sonic chased after Jet and both head into the next gate. As for the other racers Onyx looked behind him and saw the grey wolf. He looked at Onyx and then disappeared. Onyx's eyes widened. He looked around and tried to find the wolf but then saw him already ahead of him. Onyx clenched his fist and used his boost in attempt to keep up. Shadow who was in fifth saw him and used his gravity dive to speed up ahead back in third. Richter was behind Malcolm and Zenith.

"Alright, time to! Huh?" Richter saw a black ball on his gear. He tried to get it off but he it wasn't moving an inch. He shrugged his shoulders and just moved on to the next course.

_(((((6__th__ Course: Magma Rift)))))))_

Now things are really starting to heat up as we reach the Magma Rift! Put on your Sun block SPF 30,000 It's going to be hot!

Richter was riding in fourth place. Richter was dogging all the lava shoots coming out of the ground. Everyone else was doing what they could to doge all the lava shoots. Some racers couldn't make it passed the lava infested land and some were forced to quit the race, but none of the raiders or Jet turned the other way. They raced hard and long. Malcolm was jumping over tiny hills and jumping over small lava pits along with Zenith. Onyx was neck to neck with the gray wolf. None of them were letting up even a little, both of them raced through the barren wasteland. Shadow was riding on mountain sides and taking any short cut he could find. He started closing in on the two who were in front. Sonic was neck to neck with Jet.

"You've done good Sonic the hedgehog!" Jet said "I've got to say you're getting better every time I see you race!"

"Heh heh! Better? You're the one to talk! I've always been the fastest thing alive! And I plan to keep it that way!"

"We'll see about that!"

Jet Started to ram Sonic trying to get him to lose his balance. Sonic was standing firm on his board and doing his best not to fall. Meanwhile, Sonic sees Richter coming up in front of Shadow. Richter then sees sonic struggling.

"Hang on bud!" he said as he tried to speed up. As Richter hit the boost he didn't feel himself accelerate. "What's going on?!"

"Doctor, the device is in place" said a Minion.

"Activate the NA-NA bots!" said Nega

"Oh No!" said Alice from the pit booth.

"What's going on?" asked Jayden.

"Why isn't he going faster?" Saphron asked

"Daddy, Daddy!" Alice was trying to speak on the Com-link.

"What is it?" Richter said on the other side

"Your gear there's some nasty saboteurs on it! You have to pull in!"

"No can do Sweetie!"

"WHAT!"

"Alice, do you know what will happen if we lose?"

"Yes but-"

"No buts! Let me do this ok? I'll be fine."

Alice looked down and smiled. He knew how important this race was. "Ok but don't try to hard!"

"You got it! As Richter was getting to the next gate He then saw the little ball move. The ball then grew a face. Looked at Richter with its white eyes, and grinned with its sharp teeth.

"What the?" said Richter confused

"NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA!" said the little ball as it starred to gnaw on Richter's bike"

"HEY! What's going on!?" Richter then saw some more little balls eat away at his gear.

"OH NO!" It looks like Richter's gear is starting to smoke! He's starting to go down!

"NA-NA-NA-NA-!"" They all were eating way at Richter's bike the bile started to slow down and fall to the ground.

"OH NO!" Said Suzie "It looks like Richter's gear is shot down, looks like he's out of the race…"

"NO NO NO!" Zenith was also going down his shoes stopped working and he fell violently to the ground

"Oh no! Now the hedgehog, whose name escapes me, is out of the race too!"

"Damn it!" Zenith slams his fist on the ground

"Calm down!" said Malcolm walking up.

"You too?"

"Afraid so." Malcolm throws the tiny robot at the wall and blows it up with his arm cannon. We've been had"

"Not yet!" said Richter walking up. The three of them see another racer come up to them. He was metal hedgehog who looks down on them.

"Are you alright?" he asked

"Uhhh…yeah….." Richter said

"My name is Groove…Lieutenant Groove. I've been sent by Raygen to investigate the race, and you."

"Hold on…" Richter then saw some bots on gears. "Looks like we got company…." He then summoned his hammers. "This is far from over!"

"I can take them on, you just make sure your blue hedgehog wins this race" Groove turns his arms into cannons.

_((((((((The 7__th__ and final Course; Megalo foundry))))))_

_Note: This is the same foundry from the start of the chapter. _

"This is it! The final track our racers will race through the large factory and make it back here at the stadium at the finish line! With only seven racers left this will be one for the record books, folks!

Shadow was riding through looking around for any bots around. Onyx and the wolf were both Neck to neck in fourth place.

"Come on!" shouted Onyx "Let's see what your made off!" Onyx speeds off ahead of the wolf. He looks behind and sees the wolf far behind him. "HA HA HA!" he then turns around and then drops his mouth when he sees the wolf in front of him. "WHAT!" For some reason, he was in a bike this time, while drinking coffee. "How..how..."

He turns around and looks at Onyx with a blank expression. "You look speechless. What happened to all that gusto?" Onyx was still dumbfounded looking at the wolf. "Oh well. If I showed you what I really was made of, you may not even breathe again. ta-ta" He speeds on ahead on his bike.

The wolf turns over to Onyx and back at the road

"What? What are you talking about?" as Onyx looked at the wolf, he nearly crashed at a nearby pillar. He just nearly dodged it and when he looked for the wolf he was gone. When he tried to look for him he felt something burning on his feet. As he looked down there was panic in his eyes as he saw his gears smoking. He dropped down to the floor and quickly took his shoes off. He saw the shoes blow up in smoke.

"What the hell!" he said in disappointment He saw no trace of the gray wolf. He looked down and sighed. "What happened?" Onyx thought

"On-On!" Onyx turned and saw Alice driving a large, flat hover craft, big enough for fifteen people. He saw Malcolm and Zenith on the hover craft along with the other humans. "Need a lift?"

"Where did you get this hovercar?" Onyx asked

((Somewhere else)))

"Honey, where did you park our hovercar?" said a man holding groceries

"I swear. It was right here!" the woman next to him said.

(back with everyone)

Alice looked around and spoke in an unsure tone. "Alice..uhhh borrowed it yeah that's it! Anyway hop on!" Onyx jumped on from a formidable height.

"So what's going on? Why did my gear blow up like that?" Onyx asked

"Our gears were sabotaged!" Zenith said "I can't believe it! ME! Losing a race how could this be?!"

"Man you're such a baby!" said Malcolm "So what do we do now?"

"All we can do is hope that Son-Son and Shad-Shad can win...or else.."

Ty walked over to Alice and patted her on the back. "Don't worry you're not going back to that fat bastard! I'll make sure of it!"

"We all will!" said Tawny "Mother and the entire clan are here. Even if we lose we'll fight for all of you!"

"That's right! said Saphron.

"Richter is like a father to me too!" said Zeke "I refuse to lose another one to the criminal underground!"

"Yeah! You're our family too!" said Jayden "We always look after our family!"

"You guys can be so mushy sometimes…." Lori said

"I think it's great to know everyone has an unbreakable bond" Toby said

"If you say so.."

Alice looks back at everyone and nods with a smile. "Thank you…everyone"

"Hey umm, you said Sonic and Shadow right? Where's Richter?" Toby asked

"Alice doesn't know. Alice only saw Malcolm and Zen-Zen."

"Where could he be?"

Sonic and Jet were half way through the massive factory. Little that they know is that they were being watched by GronMin and his men.

"Is everything ready?" GronMin asked

"Yes." Said a minion

"Excellent. Commence the attack on the Blue Star and Black Steel!"

"I can't wait to get my hands on all those women" said Claw "I kind of had my eye on that purple haired human."

"Hey, she's mine!" said Nega " Alice will be mine again and I'll make sure that she will work properly once I wipe her memory clean and find something useful to her.

"Those Cramoisi will met the end of my blade once I get my hands on them!" said Klaus

"Oh this is all very nice." Said Mora "Then maybe….I can meet the end of your….personal blade….."

"My personal Blade?" Klaus quirks his eye brow

"I hope is sharp enough because, I'm looking forward to having a wonderful time with you…."

"Just…do your job...and stop fooling around!" Klaus turns around.

"Oh…but we have so much in common….we are so lonely…."

"Get away from me!"

"Oh! You big meanie!"

"Right…..Press the button Mr. Gintty"

The minion pressed the button, but did not see anything happen "What! Why isn't anything happening?" GronMin asked

"I don't know sir! Everything has been set"

"Looks like it's time for plan "B' " Benedict said pressing another button.

Back at the race Sonic looked behind him and saw another large armed interceptor. He started throwing its arms at the two egger racers, who both manage to doge the attacks

"They're cheating!" said Jayden

"Where the heck is Richter!" shouted Tawny

Well, with both the fastest people in the lead there's no telling wait something's going on back at the track entrance.

Something came from the portal leading back to the last track, it was a large glowing ball of fire. The others looked behind and saw it heading towards them. It dashed past the and all the other racers

"Wait, wait…what is that?" GronMin asked "it looks like a large light ball" GronMin then saw a face in the light, it soon revealed a fiery gear." It's-It's RICHTER!?"

"RRRRAAAAHHHHH!" Richter screamed as he was dashing through the course in incredible speed, holding a small dynamite pack. I'm not going to be a lapdog to anyone! ESPECIALLY DANTE'! YOU HEAR ME!? "

"HE'S GOT THE BOMB!" GronMin Screamed

"How did he get a hold of that thing?!" Claw asked

"What should we do sir?!"

"What do you think?! FIRE! FIRE EVERYTHING! I WANT THAT ECHIDNA!"

Another interceptor came up in front of Richter. He saw many missiles and lasers being fired; hedogged every last one. Richter charged at the interceptor and threw one of his hammers and hit it on the head. He then threw the dynamite pack at it blowing it up. Sonic saw Richter behind him.

"Blue boy, If I'm stuck being a REAL criminal lord because you weren't fast, I'll never forgive you!" Richter shouted Dashing above him. "I'm already out of the race! The rest is up to you!"

" Richter… You got it!" sonic said shouting back "Let's go!"

"Why are you even here?" Jet asked "It's not like you to do this just for fun!"

"You don't get it Jet! I have too much riding on this! My friends could be in danger!""

"What do you mean? It's just a race. What's wrong Sonic, can't stand to lose your title as fastest thing alive?!"

Sonic slapped his forehead and grabbed the flash walker on his chest. He then looked up and sighted. "I can't lose. I WON"T LOSE!" Sonic touched the flash walker then all of a sudden the gear started to change. It was glowing a green glow, and then it broke apart. The parts then flew onto Sonic's body. First his feet then his arms, legs and body, and finally some of them flew on to Sonic's wings, even though, they were invisible. Jet looked at Sonic as he was glowing with all the parts of the gear on him. Sonic then looked at Jet with a serious look.

"Sorry Jet" said Sonic "but play time is over!" Sonic then dashed a head in a blue and green light. Jet was just astonished by what he saw.

"OH MY GOSH! Never before have I seen this in any extreme gear race! Sonic's gear actually merged with him and he's now dashing through the track all the way to the finish line! But what's this?! Oh my it looks like Jet is also increasing speed with his wing-like fans! (If you play sonic riders then you would know what I'm talking about) He's closing in on to Sonic!

"I don't know what's going on Sonic, but even if I do lose it's not going to be because I got lazy! This is it! I'm going to give it my all!"

Sonic was looking back and then he smiled. "Alright, then I'll show you how serious I am!" Both of them where neck to neck blasting at supersonic speed, close to the finish line.

This is it! Suzie got up from her chair as did the entire audience. Richter was looking from above, still dodging all the weapons. "Both are approaching the stadium! It's Jet…It's Sonic…Jet…Sonic….Jet…Sonic! Oh it's going to be a photo finish!" Everything went slow as Sonic and Jet were approaching the finish line. Sonic looked at Jet with a smile and when everything sped up again, he dashed past him and through the finish line. There was a small silence but when they saw who crossed the finish line on the plasma screen, the entire stadium was booming with thunderous applause. Sonic stood there looking at the crowd and did a back flip followed by his victory trademark pose crossing his arms with is index finger sticking out.

"YEEAHHHHHHH!" screamed the others as the cheers on his teammate

"YES YES YES YES!" cheered Darcy along with the other Cramoisi.

Shadow came after Jet and smiled. Jet looked at Sonic for a minute. "GRRRRRR! Dang it! After all that training and planning! *Sigh* I'll beat you next time, Sonic the hedgehog"

"AHHHHHH!" GronMin Screamed and slammed his fist on the control panel. "This wasn't supposed to happen! How did he get that bomb?!"

"but isn't good that a Raider didn't win?" asked a minion.

"IDIOT!" GronMin Screamed "We didn't want _any_ of them to win!"

_**Won by a nose**_

"And by a nose the winter is Sonic! Said the announcer "Congratulations Sonic the hedgehog, you are this year's champion!

"YEEEEE-HEEEEE-HEEEE-HEEEE! WHOO!" Richter shouted from above on his bike, but unknown to him a missile came at Richter's gear making a large hole in the front.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" He scrammed as his gear was slowly going down in flames.

Back at the stadium, Sonic Jet and Shadow where standing on a large podium. Wave and Storm come walking up to the podium.

"Well boss looks like he beat you again" said Storm

"How did his gear manage to merge with him?" said Wave scratching her chin "Not even I could have thought of that.

"Well maybe you should start thinking now, so I can beat him next year!" said Jet.

"*Sigh* Silver was sanding off the podium. "At lest you finished in the top three."

Suzie came up to the three. She was a blonde Robian wearing a red suit. "Congratulations to our winners!" she said getting a big cup. "To our champion! Here you go Mr. Sonic!" She gave sonic a large golden cup with a sculpture of an extreme gear board on it.

"Sweet!" said Sonic

"And to our runner up!" Suzie gave Jet a smaller silver cup.

"Well a cup is a cup I guess!" said Jet

"And to our third place winner a cup and a small certificate to the chili dog stand in central park" Sonic looked at Shadow with pleading eyes.

"Humph whatever" Shadow scoffed

"Can I trade him places?!

"So!" Suzie comes up with a mike. "Oh, I'm such a huge fan! Anything you'd like to say to our viewers?"

" Well i-" Sonic then looked up and saw a ball of smoking fire coming down from the sky. "Wait…. Richter!?"

"Richter? You mean that other racer?" Suzie along with everyone else looked up and saw the ball of fire come down "Oh my!" She said on her mike "It looks like that ball of fire is heading toward the…radio station?!"

Richter was doing his best to control his gear but the gear was not responding. "OH MAN!" He exclaimed. "This is gonna hurt!"

"AAAHHHH!" said a minion trying to run out of the building, as the alarms were blaring.

"MR GINTTY, GET BACK TO YOUR SEAT!" Shouted GronMin. "I NEED A STATUS REPORT! SOMEONE TELL ME SOMETHING! GronMin kicked a chair down and looked at the screen. He saw Richter hurling right toward him. "What the?! DAAAHHHHHHHH!""

"AAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Screamed Richter about to crash

"NNAAAAAAOOO!" Screamed the minions

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Suzie and the audience screamed.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH! Screamed Darcy and Zerach hugging each other

"DDDAAAADDYYY" Screamed Alice.

"AAAAAAAHHH!" Screamed the raders

"AHHHHHHHH!" the Cramoisi screamed

"AHHHHHHHH!" Screamed two random racers

"GAAAAHHHHHHH!" Screamed some guy watching the race on T.V. in Empire City.

"BBBOOOOOOMMMM!" The radio station was shot with Richter's flying gear, and started to collapse.

""WE"RE HIT! WE"RE HIT!" said a minion. "MAYDAY WE"RE GOING DOWN! WE'RE GOING DOWN! MAYDAYYYYYYYY!" The radio tower along with other buildings around it. Everyone looked in horror at the smoke coming from the building 15 miles away. Alice drove the hover craft at the building as fast as she could. Some of the raiders and Cramoisi came running over as well

The gray wolf was looking from a distance. "That must be him" he said. He got on his gear and dashed off. Sonic did the same thing and dashed over.

Back at the radio station, there was nothing but rubble and a glowing pink ball. It was Mora holding up an energy shield with all the other villains behind her. When she brought down the shield she looked around and saw his radio tower in ruins.

"Oh my, the cleaning staff is not going to like this one bit" she simply said "What a bother, it looks like I won't be getting that power after all."

"Is that all you can say?!" Klaus shouted "Even with all the tricks we pulled they still got away!"

"Mistress!" Mora turned around and saw a giant horned minion digging something out of the rubble. "I know you're upset about losing your bet, but it looks like I may have found a consolation for you." He was grabbing Richter by the arm who was uncurious"

"Mmmmmm…. Welll it looks like I'll be getting something out of this after all! My master will be pleased!"

Well this is a shocker! What will happen next? What will happen to the Raiders now, and Richter?" nd Just who is this gray wolf? Is the Clean crew going on strike!? Find out next time on RD!

_**Off Panel**_

_**The wrong place, at the wrong time: Conclusion **_

Tawny and Richter were outside of the training hall. Both of them still had their bodies switched, and it was getting harder and harder to make by.

"Ok…" Tawny, who was in Richter's body, stood there with her arms crossed. "Tell me, fairy. How the heck do you make a HAMMER!"

"It's easy" Richter, who was in Tawny's body, stood in front of Tawny with his hands behind his back. He then sniffs under Tawny's arm. "All it takes is a simple matter of combining the small micro partials with the dust mites and small specks that cannot be seen by the human eye. Once you have achieved undertaking the gross of the specks, …blah blah blah….."

Tawny had her eyes widened and she was scratching her head hearing Richter speak in words she couldn't understand.

"…..after you've reduced Pi, making a hammer is like riding a bike. Understand?"

"Uhhhhh…." Question marks were all over her head.

"This is basic stuff. How do you plan on becoming a good user, if you don't know this? Your pits smell fruity"

"Don't smell my underarms! You're so gross!"

"What? You humans are weird….why do you even put on that chalky stuff? I never used deodorant in my life, and I smell fine"

Chrome comes walking in hearing them talk.

"That is so sick!"

"Not as sick as your math skill . Not talking about the good kind of sick either"

"Well sorry! Math wasn't my best subject! And why math? I thought it was all about learning how to be connected with the element and all…."

"In part, yes. But you need to know the fundamentals of how to use your element and how much of it you use, otherwise it will blow up in your face! Literally! If you think this is hard, just wait till you pull off strong attacks….it's like a calculus version of elemental learning….though I do excel in….."

"What are you doing?" Chrome asked the two

"Uhhh…nothing….." they both said. Tawny then grabs Richter and runs off.

"Hey wait!" Chrome reached out and sighed.

_**After that…..**_

Tawny brings Richter into her room. Richter looks all around marveling at how bland the room was.

"Ok…let's just hide here, and wait for Alice to finally…What are you doing?!"

"Ooooo who's this?" Richter points to the picture of a young blonde boy with a white shirt. "He looks a lot like you"

"He's…he's my brother" Tawny said with a low tone.

"I didn't know you had a brother…..wait…" Richter then notices a candle by it. "It's a shrine…" he said under his breath.

Tawny sits on her bed looking down. "He….he was perhaps the only one in my family, who didn't treat me like an object. I loved him so much…."

Richter walks up and sits next to her. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know…." She said "My father just said he died in some accident. After his death…my father treated me more like his dress up doll….I couldn't take it! So I ran away. But it was dark at night, so I couldn't see. Little that I knew I was running off a hill. Next thing I remember is seeing Sonic's face for the first time, and gnawing at those criminals, drinking their blood. I haven't seen my brother…not even at his funeral.

"Doh hoo!" Richter had his face covered up as he was crying. "I'm so sorry! *gasp* No wonder you're such a sourpuss! Being neglected by your family and have the one guy who cares about you dead…..oh Tawny! I feel like a real jerk!"

"Well I feel like a bigger jerk!" Tawny said tearing herself "I had no idea how hard you had it! All those moves you do take lot of thinking. I thought you were just some fuddy duddy guy lesbian, who didn't know better and had no high school diploma, and was slow and out of shape, and gross and dirty and…."

"Alright, I get it!" Richter spoke in annoyed tone. "Is there a 'but' in there?"

"*sigh* " Tawny wipes her tears away. "but you only act that way because you are doing so much thinning in battles.

"Yeah, and I thought you were a spoiled mean girl. But you have a heart. I know…I know I'm not your brother…but I am one of you now so I'm going to treat you like a brother would."

"You don't have to..GUH!" Richter hugs Tawny

"No I want to! You poor, poor girl! Now I see why you want to at all tough

"Now I know why you act like a loopy nut job!"

"Oh…Tawny!" Richter hugs her

"Oh Richter!" Tawny hugs back

"I'm sorry!" As they spoke in unison their bodies started to glow yellow. When they broke their hug they look at each other in surprise. Richter was looking at Tawny, Tawny was looking at Richter. But this time, they were _actually _ looking at each other, in _their _own bodies!"

"Did…we…." Richter lifts _his _hand.

"We did…" Tawny smiles looking at _her _arm.

"We switched back!" both of them laugh and hug each other again.

"Congratulations!"

"AHH!" Both turn and see Alice smiling while holding a remote. "Alice is happy you two are getting along! She even finished her 6 month long experiment!"

"That's great, Alice!" Tawny said "Maybe now we'll start to act nicer"

"Yeah!" Richter said "Now I got some teaching to do. Ready student?"

"Ready, teacher" Tawny said following Richter.

"YAY! They are friends now!" Alice had a rainbow over her head

_**Four hours later….this happened**_

"YOU DANG FAIRY!" Tawny yelled "How could you give me a C-?!"

"The test was to summon a weapon, you keep summoning a fork." Richter said back eating cake. "Not my fault your calculations where wrong"

"Well maybe they wouldn't be wrong, if YOU were a better teacher!"

"How dare you! I was trained by the best!"

"Well not best enough! Fuddy Duddy!"

"She demon!"

The two of them were arguing with each other. Alice looks from a distance glaring with a rain cloud over her head.

"After all that, and they still argue!" She said pouting, poking her lip out. "Alice will fix that!"

"Wait Alice" Rin-Rin pats her on the shoulder. "Maybe this is a good thing"

"What? You mean….Rin-Rin knew Alice switched…."

"They are arguing, but now they fully understand each other better. Maybe their arguing is a sign of how much they care."

"Try using your mental math, study a bit harder and you _might _ be able to summon a better weapon!" Richter shouted back

"Well thank you sooo much for the help, NOT!" Tawny snatches the piece of paper from Richter and storms off. She then looks back at Richter who was talking with Jayden. "Thanks…Big brother…" she then smiles while walking out of the room.

"Mmmm…." Alice looks at her leave . "Maybe Rin-Rin's right…..but how did she know that they switched?"

"How did I know who switched…."

"*sigh never mind" Alice sighed


	16. Soligl's Appearance: A new shade of Blue

**So sorry for the long wait again! Oh wait...no I'm not….BECAUSE IT WASN'T THAT LONG! I got to say there is soooo much happening in this chap; I had to split it in two! And you know what the best part is….you may get to get the new chap a lot sooner than this one! So keep your fingers crossed because it's going to be good ya'll! And…not as long as the other chapters**

**Thank you.**

**Now on with the story!**

**All SEGA Chars are not Mine. Some fan characters are, the other chairs belong to my buds across FF. And if I see you take them or say bad things about them. Be warned! I'm a cook (in training) who knows how to use knives….to stick you to a wall! OK never mind but really guys, respect.**

Sonic and the others ran toward the destroyed radio station, ten miles away from the racing sight.

"What's going on?!" Chrome asked riding his gear up to Sonic.

"It's Richter. He was on that gear!" Sonic answered.

"Is he ok?"

"I don't know"

Alice was driving the hover car over to the wreckage. She was in shock, by the drastic even that happened. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she rushed over to see what had become of Richter.

_**Chapter 16**_

_**Soligl's appearance; A new shade of blue.**_

_**All bets are off**_

Sonic, Chrome Shadow and many of the dusk raiders and Cramoisi run up right at the destroyed wreckage. Right at the base of the wreckage they saw all the villains standing right cross from them.

"Oh pooh!" Mora said shaking her fist and stomping her feet. "I was so looking forward to you becoming my man servant, and having a pirate crew to boot! Oh well. Congratulations, no one has ever even attempted to bet against Dante' let alone win. You should be proud. As promised your crew and the Cramoisi are free.

"Chrome, who is that?" Sonic asked

"One of Dante's leading henchmen in charge of this area, she's the reason why the bet was placed in the first place"

"So…this guy is Sonic the hedgehog?" Mora asked "He doesn't look so strong. He actually looks man servant worthy…."

"Don't be so naïve" Klaus said drawing his sword. "He and Shadow are powerful fighters, and the knights of Cramoisi brought back."

"Where's Richter?!" Chrome asked in a firm tone

"Oh he's fine" Mora moved to the side and reviled something that made Chrome's heart drop. He saw his brother unconscious, with his arm being grabbed by a creature with a large body, a loin cloth and horns. From a distance the grey wolf was looking from above a skyscraper, as he stared down looking at Mora.

"_So that's our guy?" _said a voice in his head

"I think so; it's an orange echidna just like **he **said"

"_So...let's go already!"_

"Can you wait for a second?"

Darcy was flying in with Zerach and the small group of Cramoisi. Darcy turned to look at Chrome and Sonic. "What goes on here my child?"

"Oh Hi Madame!" Mora said in the sweetest voice. "Nothing major, I was just congratulating Chromy here on a job well done. Now if you'll excuse me I would like to take my prize and return to my master"

"WAIT!" Chrome reaches out his hand "We had a deal!"

Mora turns around with a smile. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought our deal was that Dwayne, Ryan, your crew, the Megalo council and the Cramoisi would be free. I don't remember Richter being a part of that agreement"

"Man what a cheat!" said Zenith

"Richter IS a part of the crew!" said Mercury.

"Oh don't worry. I'll take good care of him. I think he'd make a much better servant than Chrome. Earth users are known for their….tough skin and to be quite tickleish! *giggle*"

"Let him go NOW!" shouted Knuckles

"You can't do this!" shouted Jazz "Let Richter go now!" Jazz summoned her leaf sword and pointed Mora.

"I'd let him go if I were you." Before he knew it, Sonic saw Mora instantly appear in front of him and Jazz.

"Do you think you can take me on? I may look small, but my powers out rank you all!" she said smiling

While that was going on, Richter slowly opened his eyes and saw what was going on he saw everyone in front of Mora he then saw the creature that was holding him. The creature notices Richter as he was trying to say something.

"yyyrrrmmmmm" he mumbled

"What?" the creature asked bringing Richter closer.

"Yoorrrmmmm" he mumbled again

"I can't hear you."

"Your….arm….." he said clearly

"Oh, what about it?" The creature asked

"There's something on it"

"Really?"

""Yeah yeah let me look"

"Oh Ok"

"Yeah Yeah let me see" the creature moved his arm toward Richter. He grabbed it with his hand, and then Richter opens his mouth and chomps his arm like an apple.

"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed as he grabbed Richter and flailed him right at Mora.

"WAHHH!" Mora screamed as she fell down she turns around at her posy with a peeved face. "Alright you losers, who wants to die!?"

Richter got up and spat out the blood from the creatures arm.

"Eww! Disgusting! *Gasp* the horror! *Bleck* *Gag* " He said trying to spit it out.

"_YOU….impudent!" _Mora glares at Richter who was scratching his head wondering why she was so mad and huffing and puffing.

"What did I do?" he asked bewildered

"Don't just stand there you dumbasses! Get him!" Mora shouted at the two large guards.

*Sob* Sob* But he bit me, and I didn't even do anything! The Creature was holding his arm whining, while the other one was trying to comfort him.

"Stop your whining! It's only a scratch! Now GET HIM!"

"RRHAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" both monsters were running after Richter. Richter turned around and smiled and made his stance. The monster used his hand to smash Richter, slamming it on the ground. The creature lifted it up but did not see Richter. He looked around and saw that he was clinging on the back of his arm. The other monster tried to grab him but Richter was too elusive he crawled over to the monster's belly, then his other arm then to his left leg, then he crawled over to the other monster. The first monster tried to hit Richter but ended up hitting the other monster in the gut. Richter then crawled on the second monster's head; the first monster tried to get him, but then he hit the second monsters head. Richter then jumped back to the first monster. The Second monster tried to hit him but ended up hitting the other monster in the head. Richter jumped off and looked back at the monsters who were dazed. He then took a deep breath and blew air in their direction. They both fell down with a mighty boom. Richter then summoned a hammer and threw it at them.

"Bombardment" he said as the hammer blew up destroying the two monsters. "Well that was just rude. WHA!"

Richter was grabbed, by the collar by Mora. _"_How is it you survived that crash?!"

"Uhhhh….I'm not sure….my daddy said I was born with a rock head" Richter knocks on his head.

"Then I should kill you right now! " she then pulls her hand back making her nails extend longer than normal and pointing them at Richter's neck. "Man servant or not, I won't let some sugar daddy echidna ruin my REPUTATION!"

"Sugar daddy?! Now that's just….wait a minute….." Richter looks down in thought. "Long claws…where have I seen this bef…." Richter then turns to Chrome. "Hey Chrome, I just figured it out!"

"Figured what…out…" Chrome asked

"Hey" He turns to Mora "Why don't you stop hiding and show everyone what you really are? **Connie!"**

"Connie? That's Connie?" Chrome wondered

Mora throws Richter and Chrome knocking him down. "So, it's true….You're the one who humiliated my little sister!" Mora starts to glow a dark aura. She then grew a pair of horns, wings, and a her tail grew longer forming a point end at the tip.

"Mora is a succubus?!" Klaus and Zerach said in shock.

"How did you miss that?!" Darcy and Richter asked in unison.

"That…explains things." Chrome said calmly.

"Ohhh! I was so close!" Mora shouted "I was going to make Master Dante' proud! But you! You ruined everything!"

"Yeah…that's what everyone tells me…" Richter whined.

"I've seen enough" Darcy walks up and draws her sword in front of her. "This is where it ends. Demon or not, you're all finished"

"Alright!" Richter summons his hammer and moves beside Darcy. "With you all the way"

"same here!" Sonic said

"_Not so fast there my little friends_." Everyone heard a voice unlike any they have heard.

Darcy and the rest of the Cramoisi felt a powerful essence they've never felt before; an evil presence stronger than they have ever felt. In the middle of the clearing they saw a large glyph appear on the ground. Mora gasped in pleasure looking at it. "My, my, this is a big mess. I'm gone for a few days and this is how things are….good grief. How unprofessional. A being comes from out of the glyph he was a black caped figure with orange glowing eyes. "Goodness, Mora….you seem a bit pissed…"

"Master!" Mora jumps for joy "I knew you'd come! Everyone has been so mean!"

Richter growls at the figure holding his weapon up close.

"Mother…." Sonic turns to Darcy Duplicitous Larcenous Ursine

"I know, Sonic" she said "This evil is stronger than anything I've felt in a long time"

Klaus walks up to the figure slowly. "You. Are you…."

The figure lets out a big grin. "Good day to you all!" he said lifting his black hands speaking like a gentleman. "Richter Chrome, my old chums! My goodness you've grown so much!" Both brother's narrow their eyes staring in the orange eyes of the figure, as he turns around and sees Klaus.

"Ah, Master Klaus! Ha ha ha! I've been looking forward to meeting you!" He walks up and shakes his hand . "The new master of cobalt! It's great to meet you face to face! I am Igilios Dante' lust'ufeir. "

"He's Dante?" Sonic asked Richter

"Yeah" Richter said quietly "The leader of the Grand Mafia himself"

"Goodness! Everyone is here. Nega, Claw, and GronMin. Oh it's great to see you all"

"Master….." Mora tugs on Dante's robe and points at Sonic and the group.

"Ah yes…..the Cramoisi." He pays attention to Darcy and Sonic. "The queen Cramoisi herself, Darcy, and her little errand boy, Sonic the hedgehog"

"Hey! Who you calling errand boy, orange eyes?!" Sonic said

"Oh that's rich." The figure disappears and lies on Sonic's shoulder. He was a foot taller than Sonic. "So you're the reason why Eggman could never conquer the world, Impressive. Tell me my boy… Have you ever wonder how the criminal underground exist? "

"Don't answer that" Richter mouthed to Sonic

"Let me guess…world Domination?" Sonic asked as Richter slapped his face.

"How drool…"Dante disappears and reappears behind Richter "I suppose Richter old boy didn't tell you, why it exists and what our goal is. It was the very reason he started this rebellion I assume." He puts his head on Richter's shoulder as Richter sneered. "You and your Cramoisi are nothing but his pawns in a futile effort. Why doing the actions he does, Richter no better than me"

"You're wrong!" said Sonic "He's not using us. We chose to help him"

"Right. You're not being used. That's why you became a lap dog for some sleeping queen. I ,on the other hand, give people a choice to join us or not"

"Give me a break!" Richter turns while pushing him off. "You didn't give my father a choice during your hostile takeover. You didn't give people a choice when you destroyed their lives! You've got the gall to talk like you're this reasonable man!"

"Oh, but I am reasonable…dear Richter. And ten times the better imperial leader of the criminal underground."

"Enough of this talk!" Klaus runs up to Darcy and swings his sword at her. Darcy reacts by blocking it. "We had an agreement! Let's bring Darcy down!"

Suddenly Klaus disappeared and reappeared where he was standing. "What?!"

"Patience, Mr. Klaus" Dante said smiling while holding up his hand. "First things first….the Solairte family's treasure…..The eight emerald! From Dante's cloak came out a large dark hand that grabbed Richter by suprise and began to strangle him. Richter was staining from the tight grip form the large hand. He screamed in pain.

"RICHTER!" Sonic shouted

"Now…Richter…..give me the emerald, and I promise not to hurt you….. too much" "Dante' threatened as his eyes were glowing. "Don't try to escape. Your earth power has no effect with my dark grip holding you."

"You…bastard!" Chrome cursed

"Go suck it, Dante'" Richter said strained

"How rude! You are a stubborn one Mr. Solairte! " the hand squeezed Richter even harder.

"NNNAGGGGGHH!" Everyone saw Richter screaming and even heard some joints crack.

"NO! STOP IT!" Alice screamed with tears in her eyes.

Darcy wanted to do something, but even she was having difficulty thinking about what to do.

"Hang on bro!" Sonic jumps at Dante's dark hand but was blown back on the ground after so much as just touching it.

"How sweet! You have people who care for you despite of what you've done ten years ago, and let's not forget you're deeds in the underground! Now you come here and _dare_ deify me?! You think you can defeat me? You're wrong!" The hand lifted Richter and slammed him on ground and then again and again, then it finally threw Richter to the ground, and went back into Dante', as he smiled in satisfaction. Richter was on the ground panting wildly. "Richter, you don't look so good! AH ACK-ACK-ACK!" Dante' cackled. "OH I've waited a long time for this, my little orange friend!" he walks up to Richter, but was blocked by Jazz.

"Leave…him…alone…." She said

"Child, get back!" Darcy ordered

"Listen to the queen, little one" Dante said sweetly. Jazz just steps back saying in front of Richter and bringing out her sword. "So you chose to protect this foolish man. You've got moxie, little one. But…." Dante' kneels down and from is cloak came out a long hand-like foot that grabs Jazz. She screams as a jolt of orange electricity ran through her body. She was then thrown down on the ground.

"Enough of this!" Zerach comes and flies in front of Dante' "If you call yourself a man of reason, then fight like one!" He then jumps down and kneels down to Richter and Jazz healing them.

"Rise, Richter" Zerach's hand started to glow orange. "Don't give up."

"Lord Zerach. Let me take care of him!" Chrome said clasping his fist together

"No" Richter gets up while bringing out his hammer. "You can pick on me, throw me, and beat the crap out of me. But touch my crewmates again, I'LL KILL YOU!"

Dante' noticed Richter was still bleeding in some spots. "Ahhh! You're getting mad! Yes! If memory serves me right, getting enraged is the way to trigger the emeralds power" before he knew it, Richter sees Dante' in front of him. He grabs his arm with the golden harness. "Ah….you still wear this repulsive thing….let's take that off, shall we?"

"Hey!" Sonic jumps at Dante' with his sword and swings at him, but Dante' blocks it with his arm. "I'm not going to let you unleash that power!" Sonic didn't give up he kept swinging his sword, but Dante' kept blocking it.

"AH ACK ACK! You are a feisty one aren't you blue hedgehog?"

"I warn you:" Darcy spoke "Remove that, and you could destroy everything around you"

Dante turns around and smiles. "that's what I'm hoping for!" he then grabs the device. Richter tries to break free but to no avail. Dante' removes the seal from Richter's arm and throws it on the ground.

"What is this supposed to do?" Klaus asked

"Mmm-mmmm-mmmm-mmm" Everyone saw the cloak around Dante instantly burn up. When the cloak was burned up. Everyone saw a being that was much taller than them. Dante' was a furry creature with his dark gray spines spiked all the way up with some laying down, his orange tail was as long and scaly as a lizard's as was his legs with three long, fat toes for feet. His eyes had orange sclera and black snake irises.

"What….what are you?" Sonic steps back in shock.

"This creature…" Darcy looks down in thought "Where have I seen this before?"

"Darcy?" Zerach looks at his lover In question

"Well Richter….ready to be reminded of what a horrible Robian being you are? Let your horrid memories rejuvenate in your thought proses!" Dante' touches Richter's head with one finger. In an instant Richter had visions in his head like he's never seen. He screams bloody murder and starts tearing uncontrollably. "Feel it Richter! All the pain and suffering you caused!"

"I can't take it anymore!" Chrome jumps at Dante swinging his sword, but Dante' jumps back while still holding on to Richter, avoiding Chrome's attack.

"It's too late" Dante turns to Richter and sees his body glowing violently orange. "It's already happing!"

Dr. Eggman Nega gets out an orange capsule. Sonic looks at the capsule and recognizes it from before, back in Mazurri; The very same one that one of Ziggfreed's men used on Richter last time. Sonic runs over, but the liquid creature was unleashed already. Dante' throws Richter at the creature that fuses with him.

"No…" Sonic turns to Darcy who was also staring. Everyone felt helpless as the liquid starts to form into a massive monster.

"YES! Come fourth, Geo Chaos!" Dante shouted.

"Richter!" Chrome shouted

Everyone hears a massive sheik come from the monster. The liquid mass then stops growing and extends and shakes it's body violently.

"What?!" Dante' sees the Chaos life form break down into globs of liquid. "Impossible" He then sees a large, extended orange and black hand reach out to him and grab him by the body.

"**YYYYAAAHHHHHHH!"** Everyone heard a blood curding shriek as a figure came out of the dissolving liquid monster and kick Dante' on the ground. Everyone looks at the figure waddle over to Dante' with a sharp tooth grin.

"A blood Shadow?" Dante' looks at Richter whose eyes now had black sclera and was toddling and giggling.

"Not again…." Sonic said staring at Richter.

"Uhh…master?" Mora looks at Richter horrified

"**So many….so many wonderful memories…..***giggle* **You, you, you, you,you…..you reminded me of the painful life I had…***giggle* " **It made me so happy! SO SO HAPPY!** " Richter shouted while giggling.

"Since….since when could you do this?" Dante' looks in shock at Richter lick his lips and the chaos monster melt to nothing and back at Richter.

"What?!" Eggman Nega shouted looking at Richter "Solairte can't do that!"

Richter's blood Shadow lifts Dante' up and slams him on the ground. **"Come on! Nice man! Give me more! I WANT IT!"** Dante gets up and starts laughing.

"My word! You've been infected by the forbidden blood shadow virus. A gift from the Cramoisi queen no less! Very well. Come here…and I shall give you what you want!"

"**AHHhhhhhhhh…." **Richter smiled brightly.

"I…I remember!" Darcy said looking at Dante' "Sonic! You have to help Richter bring him down!"

"Why…what's going on?!" Sonic asked

"Richter can't win this alone! You have to help him!"

Sonic didn't know why, but he turns to Darcy and nods. "Hang on Richter"

_**((((Boss Fight: Imperial Criminal Lord Dante'))))))**_  
><strong>BGM Mephiles; Phase 1<strong>

"*Laugh* Your time on this planet ends today!"

"You're going down!" Sonic said jumping at the large creature with his sword. To his surprise, his attack was blocked by a finger. Dante grins at Sonic as he grabs his sword away from him. He grabs it by the hilt and swings it around.

"Ah what marvelous craftsmanship! A original done by Solairte no less!" he said swinging it at Sonic; Sonic steps back avoiding the attacks. Dante was soon grabbed by Richter's blood shadow.

"**EEEAAAHHHHH!"** Richter screeched lifting his other blood shadow hand and tries to punch Dante', but he swings the blade at it causing the first to break apart. The blood however deforms and coils around Dante' like a snake. The pressure causes Dante' to drop Sonic's sword. Sonic picks it up and swings it at Dante's arm. He tries to break free, but Richter's blood was too much for him. Richter stands their giggling oozing out more blood that forms around Dante' into blades that run through his body in different places. The blood deforms and comes back and forms into hands that wrap around Richter's chest. Sonic then dashes at Dante' swinging him in different places and finally doing a homing attack blowing him into another building with a powerful gust of wind. Sonic looks at the building where his enemy was blown , before he knew it he was blown away by a punch. Dante' had come from the rubble and starts attacking Sonic relentlessly, he grabs him with his arm charging orange electricity through his body. He then throws Sonic down and blasted a beam of black energy at him.

"Goodness, and it was you who won the Gran prix?" Dante was caught off guard, as the blood shadow forms into a claw and swipes Dante' in the back. "GAH!"

Richter walks up slowly giggling. "**Come and play with me…..Give me more pain."**

"Sorry…no can do" Dante' said smiling "You shouldn't enjoy the pain I give"

"**NEEEAAAYYYYAAHHH!"** Richter shirked jumping at Dante' with his blood shadow, but Dante' avoids the shadow without giving an inch. **"Give it to me! Give it all to me!" **his blood then raps around Dante's arm's."

"Give me your best shot!" Dante' shouted while laughing.

"**EEEEAAHHHHHH!"** Richter's blood Shadow rips Dante's arms clean off. It throws then down and Richter jumps at Dante' and swings his claws at him cutting up his body leaving it gashing blood all around. The blood then forms into one large pike where it runs through Dante's body and comes out.

"AHHH!" Dante' screamed with cuts and holes in his body. He looks down and sees Sonic with his sword glowing green pointing at him. "What?!"

"Goodbye" he smiled. "Cut through the air; wind saber!" A powerful wind made of green energy blows Dante' into another building that that crumbles on him.

((( Boss Fight: Boss defeated))))

_**Wolf blood **_

Sonic gets up panting regaining his composure. He then turns to Richter who was looking around.

"I..I don't believe it…." Eggman Nega said staring at Richter.

"Darcy…" Klaus narrows his eyes at her…."Did….did you turn him too?"

"**Haaa…haaa…..haaa…..Mer eee hee hee**….."Richter looks at the Cramoisi and crew mates. He then smiles and runs after them. **"EEAAHHHHHH!" **

Some of the crew mates screamed. Chrome stands in front of them, but Richter then stops when he sees Darcy in front of him. Darcy softly places her hand on Richter." Madame?"

"**Haaaa-haaaa-haaa-haa-haa**!" The blood shadow's hands looked as if it was about to grab Darcy, but they were stopped in their tracks.

"Darcy…" Zerach said calmly. "You've given him too much…."

"Mmmm….Zerach may be right…..perhaps I have given you too much of my blood…now Richter….just stay calm…..just like that…."

Richter's blood shadow slowly drops down, and the hands hang down from his chest as he was panting softly.

"Dante….. Is he…?" Chrome began to ask as he looked over to the rubble. His eyes began to wide as he looked at the rubble slowly shake. A hand came out of the rubble and eventually Dante' himself everyone but Claw and GronMin looked in shock.

"(This may be gruesome for minors. Oh who am I kidding you can take what's about to happen next right?... Right?)

Dante's face was burning. It had scolded marks and not just is face his body was showing signs of broken joints and burnt up parts to where they were showing the bone. Everyone could see part of Dante's skull on the right side with the eyeball gashed out. What was inhuman was that everyone saw all the burns slowly heal up. His right eye began to reform in his eye socket and his skin returned to his face and parts to his body. Within seconds his body was healed instantly. Richter stood in shock, and nearly dropped his hammer, and it turned back into a stone. Dante' chucked at the bewildered group, and his chuckle turned in to a mad cackle.

"Well now! I see you aren't the same person as before!" he shouted "You may be even better than your father! Who knows? You may even get close to overthrowing me as imperial criminal lord!"

"How can that be?!" Alice asked staring at him and slamming her fist on the controls.

"This guy isn't human!" Jayden said covering his eyes

"What is he?!" Shadow said with wide eyes.

"Is this the true face of evil?" Rouge asked backing up close to shadow

"There…..this is just reminds me of the metarx.." Cosmo said

"I won't what happened last time happen again!" Tails said pushing her back behind him.

"Now you understand" Chrome said "Igilios Dante' is the most powerful being known on this planet"

"There you go mentioning my true name Chrome" Dante' said crossing his arms "I'm getting real tired of that!"

"My word!" said Zerach "He isn't mortal"

"No he's not" Darcy said looking at Richter still. "I understand now! Humph! You can stop the act now **Soiligl Dyabon**! (Soy-le-gl Di-bon)

"What?" Everyone said

"You…you know my name! Very good! I'm flattered!" Dante said laughing with his voice changing in an distorted, high and demonic tone. "I must ask you, how did you ever find it out?"

"I've only felt this feeling once, and that was many years ago" Darcy mentioned. "I can still remember the stench of his blood, even after my mother killed you. You should have been destroyed!"

"She knows you? You know her?" Klaus asked both of them. "How?

"Your mother, the previous Cramoisi queen waged war against my kind. She was a powerful ruler of the Cramoisi who nearly wiped us out….nearly. Heh heh….but I'm back…stronger than I have ever been…all thanks to master cobalt."

"Is someone going to fill me in on this?" Sonic asked

"This **Soiligl.** Is he dangerous, love?" Zerach asked Darcy

"He and his hoard speak for evil itself" Darcy explained "For a thousand years, my people have fought against them. "

"It all makes sense now…" Sonic said. He did not know how, but even he was starting to put the pieces together. When he finished pondering it all came clear. "He's been living under the name Dante' since he's been running the mafia. He's the one who has been summoning those demons"

"Yes" Darcy confirmed "Now that his true colors are divulged…."

"Klaus!" Zerach sounded troubled shouting to his brother "Please, you must listen to me. Do not side with this madman! If what Darcy says is true, you must get away from him!"

Klaus just narrows his eyes at him and looks down. "Well…as fun as this has been…..but I have an emerald to collect" Dante or Soiligl* walks over to Richter slowly.

(From here on out this is going to be referred to as)

Suddenly he hears he hears Richter scream. Darcy and Sonic were taken by surprise as they saw a figure running a red glowing blade through Richter.

It was the gray wolf from the race. He had long hair wearing a black trench coat and black pants and an eye patch. He pulls his blade out of Richter, who kneels down panting. The blood Shadow then crawls back into Richter's body through the gashes on his body. The wolf quirks his eye brow as he saw a pair of wings appears behind Richter's back.

"Ahhh…" He stands back up with his fangs seeping out of his mouth. "**What…what** just happened?" his voice was returning to normal.

"Richter's Cramoisi spirit. It triggered when the blood shadow returned to his body" Darcy explained

"EW! Disgusting!" Klaus looks at Richter as he turns and looks with his eyes glowing orange.

"Well you're no prince charming yourself!" he said back

"And just what are you doing here, Exen?" Soiligl asked "Have you come to see what happens when you cross me?"

The wolf looks at Richter then looks at Soiligl "No" he said in a deep yet young voice. "The truth is…" Then his hand began to glow red. Then out of nowhere a katana appeared in his hand. "I wish to finish him myself."

Klaus simply crossed his arms and scoffed with a smile. "Perhaps there is reason to trust them after all"

"Of course!" Mora comes from behind and hugs Klaus. "Now sit back and watch as the exen of steel mops the floor with that sugar daddy!"

The gray wolf looks at Richter who was still somewhat exhausted. "I've been looking for you"  
>he says looking at his sword. "You're the Exen of Earth: Richter Solairte, correct?" he then aims his eyes back at Richter.<p>

"What's it to you?" Richter asked getting in a fighting stance. "Have we met?"

"My name is **Nero. **I am the Exen of Steel." I challenge you to a duel"

"Exen? Wait… hold on, I've never heard of you."

"Richter" Dwayne called "He's the new criminal lord. One who took the place of Exen after you and Chrome defeated Ziggfreed.

"But Ziggfreed wasn't an Exen" Richter answered back

"He was going to be until he was killed. Now this guy has taken his place."

Richter looked back at Nero, who had his sword pointed at him. Richter picks up his green stone and puts it away. He then summons two hammers from his hand. "You want to fight me?"

"You don't waste time do you?" Nero asked "One on one"

"You're on!" Richter said tightening his grip. "But I should warn you. I'm a Cramizom now! I'm unbeatable."

"Cram…..what did he say?" Darcy asked with a sweat drop down her head.

"Wait a minute!" Knuckles said "Richter you're too beat. You can't just start another fight!"

Richter wasn't listening, as he stared at the wolf. Soiligl watch from behind and walked up to Claw and GronMin.

"Aren't you going to do anything, Lord Dante?" asked Claw

"No" said Soiligl "I want to see this. Let them fight. If Richter is a Cramoisi….I want to see it for myself"

"but who is he?" Klaus asked looking at the wolf

"He may be one of my most powerful Criminal lord in the Exen Branch. He has killed a few of my Ginn but now we'll see him become of use to us. But just in case." The tall demon got out a small radio like device and pressed a blue button on it.

"What are you doing" Klaus asked looking at Soiligl putting it back in his pocket.

"Oh just being the generous man I usually am to my clients" Soiligl answered with a smile. "It's called back up, Mr. Klaus"

"Do we really have time for this?" Sonic asked Darcy

"let see what this results to" Darcy said

_**(((Exen Criminal Lord Fight :Macabre Exen Nero)))))  
><strong>_**BGM; Wesker Theme-Winds of Madness**

"HA HA!" I'm going to beat the snot out of you! TOPINOCHA! " he tries to bring out his black Jema, but nothing happened. "Wha….!" he tries to bring them out again, but still noting.

Everyone looks at Richter waiting to make a move. "Come on Come on! Nightmare…burn! Attack! Oh, oh ,oh wait I know. I call upon the powers of darkness to…"

"He…is the exen of earth?" Nero wondered "Pathetic…."

"_Ohh so scary…."_ Said the voice in his head.

"Darcy, what is going on?" Zerach asked

"I do not know….." Darcy said. "His new talents have been….. demoted somehow….."

"Oh this is embarrassing…." Soiligl said in his seat.

Richter was standing their panting. "ok…Ok…if…you could give me a minute….I can…UGH…UGH….UGGGHHHHAH!" Richter was kicked in the face by Nero and going in slow motion to the ground.

"Ok, buddy…." Richter growled as he summoned his normal hammers. "Eat mallet!" Richter charged at Nero. Nero then murmurs one word under his breath. "Vanguard" His body glows a red violent aura, then seven more blades appeared around him. He was holding one sword in his right hand normally, and the one on his left backhanded. Richter swings his hammer at him, but the other floating blades block his attack. Richter kept swinging but the blades keep blocking every attack. Nero swings his left backhanded sword at Richter, and throws him back and Richter was knocked to the ground. Richter slowly gets up, and sees Nero walking over to him slowly.

"So he's a Steel master?" Jazz asked

"Yeah" answered Dwayne "One of the strongest in the Criminal Underground. He just showed up one day and bested nearly half of the Ginn Branch. (Ginn is commander rank in the underground second next to Exen which is elite). None of them survived even 3 minutes with him, and fighting a Ginn is like fighting five Grapples. They were all wiped out.

"That's insane!" Nai shouted.

"No…that's the strength of a true Exen" Blade stated "You could say Richter's fighting himself. Now we'll see if that's the case."

"Steel vs. earth, who will win?" Zenith wondered

Nero charged at Richter with a blade from his right hand. Richter blocked the attack and brings up a rock from the ground. Nero jumps into the air. "Dragon Blade" he said, as six of the swords floated to his back. The six swords were lined up looking as if he had two wings on his back. Richter looked at him as he was floating over him in amazement. The swords looked like wings on his back.

"Whoa!" said Blade "Since when could steel users do that!?"

"They don't" said Chrome

"This is unreal!" said Zenith. "Is this the true work of a steel master?"

"Cool!" he shouted jumping up a little "I've never seen a move like that before! It's like you use the steel element as if you were born from it! You're amazing!"

Chrome slapped his forehead "Your life may be on the line and that all you can say?!"

""What?! I'm not allowed to like an enemy's moves every now and then?!"

Nero just stared at Richter as he was admiring his talent. "Alright…enough of this, are you going to fight or what?"

"Hey…it's not every day you see me like this, but whatever. Let's see what you got!" Richter then summoned eight more hammers and lifted himself using a rock from the ground. "I don't have a name of this, but since you're summoning weapons, why not join in the fun?"

"Humph" Nero chuckled "Not bad…. _You may just live up to your name unlike the others I faced"_

Richter then ignited his fame bracelets and set some hammers on fire. Nero flew over to Richter like a jet. Richter just barely blocked his attack with his hammers. Nero flew back and charged at Richter again. Richter moved his rock out of the way, but got a small cut from his blade. Richter knelt down a little in pain. Nero tried to strike Richter with his sword, but Richter used a rock from the ground to block his attack. Richter gets up and tries to attack him, by throwing his flaming hammers. Nero dodges every one of them and attacks him again, by swinging his sword at Richter. Richter uses Graniterrior (His jema weapon) to block the attack. The two of them were at a standstill, with both weapons colliding. Both of them stare at each other; Richter was grunting a little and Nero was staring at him with a seemingly blank stare.

"You're not much of a talker are you?" Richter asked

"Not really" he said back

Richter was pushed back on his rock. Nero lands on his rock and tries to run his sword through him. Richter jumps out of the way, but Nero kicks Richter off his rock.

"HA! Big deal! I can fly too!" Richter flaps his wings trying to fly, but for some reason he could not stay airborne. "Uhhh…." He keeps trying to fly, but no dice, he hits the ground hard. "Ouch" Richter gets up, but doesn't see Nero.

"Where'd you go?" he asked himself looking around.

"Shadow step" Nero murmured

Richter then sees Nero reappearing and disappearing, everywhere. Richter was panicking and doing his best to find Nero. Before he had a chance to do anything, Richter gets stabbed by a sword in the lower chest from behind. Everyone saw and was shocked. Richter grunted in pain, and knelt down.

"_Wow, I guess he wasn't as good as he said" _said the voice in Nero's head. Richter stood there kneeling at Nero's feet. Richter then fell on the ground, lifeless.

"Looks like I overdid it" he said.

"Richter…." Chrome hardly showed any emotion at all.

Darcy closed her eyes and looked down. "Mmmmmm…."

"Darcy?" Zerach asked in question, he then saw her smile. "it would seem as if Richter is…how our children say…constricting our panache? "

"You mean, cramping our style?" Sonic asked

"You are right, love" Darcy said "I need to help him somehow"

Onyx clenches his face in anger. He was about to draw his daggers. All of a sudden there came rumbling noises. Everyone saw something come out of the ground. It was Richter grinning with little rocks all around him.

"What!?" said Nero in total shock

"_That was unexpected!" _said the voice in Nero's head.

"WHOOO-MAN!" Richter said brushing himself off. "You really are something else! I got to say, if I was a second slower you would have had me I swear! No wonder you were made Exen so fast!

"But….how" Nero looked at where he though Richter was laying and saw a pile of Rocks. "Chaos substitution….of course"

Before he attacks, Richter was shot in the back by something; suddenly he felt a burst of energy flow through him. He then saw his wings glow bright purple. "What..the…" He didn't know why, but he felt somewhat stronger. Richter saw his chance and charged at Nero full speed, while flying in the air, but Nero blocks the attack again.

"That should do it" Darcy's hand was glowing purple

"What did you do to him?" Sonic asked

"Just relax, you two. Richter's body should be at balance for the time being" Darcy said

Nero looked at him for a minute and pointed his swords at Richter. "Well I'm impressed. It's already been 4 minutes. No one has survived an attack like that before" Nero swung his swords at Richter, but he blocks it with a rock from the ground. Richter uses his earth power to make another rock platform, and rose it up from the ground. The two of them were in the air on the platform. Nero swung his sword and Richter swung his hammers. It seemed as if both fighters were evenly matched, as they continued to duel with all there might. Soon their weapons collided again ant they were both staring at each other faces. They both pushed at each other with their weapons.

"What are you happy about?" the wolf asked looking at the echidna crack a smirk

"Man, you're much stronger than anyone I've ever faced! I'm having the time of my life! By the way, look behind you"

Nero turned and saw a stalagmite pointing at him. It then was charged at Nero but he rolled out of the way. Richter saw his chance and swung his hammer at him. Nero blocks it while getting back up, Richter then summoned another hammer and swung at Nero multiple times, flying around him trying to find opening. Richter flies downward over Nero's head and swung his hammer again trying to hit him but then Nero blocks it, as Richter was hanging upside down with his hammers keeping him balanced.

"Gottcha!" Richter exclaimed making Nero quirk his brow

Richter then falls to the ground with him still holding his hammers and still colliding with Nero's swords. He then jumps in the air again releasing his hammers and flying in the air. "Bombardment!" The hammers explode in Nero's face and he was As Nero looks at him jumping he is suddenly pushed off the rock by a powerful force behind him sending him down to the ground. He got a glimpse of what pushed him off; it was Richter hitting him from behind, who then turned into a pile of Rocks.

"Another copy" he said as he fell. He regained balance with his wing like swords. He was in the sky looking around for Richter.

"Where'd you go?" Nero asked looking around.

Suddenly, Nero felt something grab his head. Richter had come from behind grabbing his head. "I gotcha now! What are you going to do now?"

"That's probably the worst place you could be" Nero answered calmly.

"Wha…NUGGHHH!" Richter felt something inpale him. He fles back and sees a red mass come from Nero's back. Richter holds his stomach; of course it was bleeding out of control. But he looks at Nero in shock. "You…you can do blood Shadow too?!"

Nero turns around as his blood forms around him into two large dark looking hands similar to how Richter was when his was active. The funny thing was, his eyes were still the same. Richter then disappears in the air. Nero looks around ready to attack, Richter then reappears in the air and attacks Nero actually hitting him again in the back. Nero swings his blood shadow claw and hits Richter on the side, Richter then swings at Nero again, but his attack was blocked. He disappears from Nero's sight and attacks him from behind, kicking him in the back once more. Nero then grabs him by the leg and swings Richter to the ground. He then flies down at Richter at break neck speed with his blood shadow moves on his arm and forms into a long crescent shape blade.

"Kojima….reaper…" Richter could see the blood shadow form into the shape of a scythe.

As Richter looks at it, his eye's sclera turn black again and his body glows deep purple as he lifts his hammers. Nero could see spin around Richter glowing purple and rocks appear around him. "Let's end this! Terrain Reverberation: Aftershock! " Richter swings his hammers with the rocks merging with them; Nero swings his swords unleashing a massive explosion. Everyone covered their eyes from the massive flash caused by the two attacks. When the flash clears everyone saw Richter and Nero both fall on the ground.

((Boss…eh...you know))))

_**A new shade of Blue**_

"Richter!" Richter gets up panting and sees Chrome helping him up.

"Thanks…" Richter sees Chrome with the golden harness, removed earlier. He takes it from him and puts it back on; the harness glows while attaching itself to his arm. Richter feels slight pain as it rejoins his arm; he then feels his fangs recede back in his mouth, and his wings shrink till they disappear. He turns at Nero who got up and also started panting holding his arm and his swords disappeared in a red glow. The two of them were staring at each other, both out of breath.

"Now the spirit has been brought back to sleep" Darcy said "If only he fully awakened the power inside. He wasn't as strong as he was during his fight with Ziggfreed"

"_Amazing!"_ said the voice in Nero's head _"He actually hit ya! No one's done that to you in a while!' _

"I don't need you to tell me" Nero said out loud

"but I didn't say anything" Richter said quirking his eye brow.

"_Looks like he's as strong as the __**Exen of light **__said. What do you think?"_ said the voice

"Well what are you waiting for?" Richter asked. "Aren't you…*pant* going to show off some of those moves again? Come on…*Pant* I want to see more!"

"Huh?" Nero widen his eyes at him "_He wants to see more? What kind of poor souls brought him in this world…_.?"

"_Heh..heh! I kind of like him! Can I come out and see?"_

"NO!" shouted Nero out loud

"Awwww! Please?!" Richter asked with weepy eyes. Nero had a sweat drop on the side of his face.

Soiligl was looking and grinning at the two who were out of breath. "_Now Richter has almost no energy left, and he will soon fall. _Well done Mr. Nero! Now please finish him, and then we can start on his crew and these beasts"

Chrome widens his eyes. "Hey! Mora said we were free!"

"Don't look at me.." Mora said innocently "I gave you a chance at freedom, but you chose to stay. You should have left when you had the chance. Oh well….like I said it's your funeral . Oh! How's this sound on your tombstone? "He died saving vampires because they promised him life" Mora just laughed hysterically.

Chrome couldn't help but stare at him he then drew his weapon and got ready to fight. "Damn You!"

Nero turns and looks at Soligil with narrow eyes. "Don't tell me what to do." He said under his breath.

_**Meanwhile….**_

From above the ground, they were being watched the other Cramoisi.

"Zilli! Big brother's fighting!" said a young white girl with black pigtails and a school uniform

Another dark skinned little girl wearing the same school uniform walked up and looked down at the large group staring at the smaller group. "Is that mother, Milli?"

"Yeah! But what's she doing down there?"

"Whatever it is we should"

"GIRLS!" shouted a orange cat pointing at a dark plume of smoke. Then a dark creature came out of it and as crawling toward the girls.

"Is this the Evil thing you talked about, Prowl?" asked the Nick brown wolf

"Y-Yes!" He answered trembling in fear.

"I ain't afraid!" said Zilli "Let's get him!"

All four tried to strike at once but then the creature attacked them, and blew them away all the way down to where the others were. Richter turned and saw the four flying at him. They all landed right on his back.

"OOhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" said All of them a little dazed.

"What is this? 'Land on Richter' day?!" Richter asked slamming his fist down trying to squirm free

"Sorry, big brother!" Milli said getting off.

"Big Brother?" Nero looked at the four kids getting up.

"_Odd family…" _said the voice

"Children?" Darcy asked

"Mother?" said the four

"Mr. Klaus now would be a good time to show them our greatest achievement" Soiligl said

"With pleasure!" Klaus said as he pressed a button on a radio. Then out of nowhere over 40 blue agents appeared around the right in front of everyone.

"_Whoa! Who ordered the extra help!?"_ said the voice in Nero's head. Nero looks at all the blue agents surrounding him._ "What are you going to do?" _

"We'll have to retreat for now." Nero said "Now isn't the time Alright?!"

"The time for what!?" Richter asked Nero. Nero gives one last look at Richter then vanishes out of sight in a red flash.. "WAIT!" Richter looked at the agents around him and pointed his hammer at them. "Blast! He's the least of my worries now!"

"At last." said Klaus. "I can see the destruction of the Cramoisi. Brother, you fought well, but now it's over. I will rid this world of this trash!"

"You're saying that about your own brother, you know!" Sonic yelled. "I got a question for _you! _ Why do you hate the Cramoisi so much?! What did they ever do to you?! So your brother loves one? Big deal! Give me one good reason why, you despise them so much!?" Klaus looks at Sonic growling gritting his teeth.

"Klaus, fight with us! Together we can end Dante' right here and now!" Richter said "Come on! He's the evil one, not us!"

"ENOUGH!" Klaus shouted "I don't need to explain anything to you! The Cramoisi are my enemy always have always will be, and if you and your brother are foolish enough to help them then you and your crew will die with them!" Klaus then takes out a black shard. "You…Soligl or whoever….are you ready?"

"Indeed" Soiigl's hand then started to emit a dark cloud. Then from his hand came a purple and Black figure. It was a small creature with feet and claws. It had one red eye shaped like a "V". It was a small creature no bigger than an adult dog. It let out a small roar reviling its sharp teeth. Everyone looked at the beast in disgust. Klaus cringed his face at the monstrosity that Dante' was holding. Milli and Zilli hid behind Richter staring at it.

"You're our big brother! Stop him!" Zilli said pushing Richter.

"Wha.." Richter said in confusion _"Oh… the flash walkers! Alice must have given them to the others."_

"Darcy" Zerach turned to his wife "Can you feel it?"

"Yes…" Darcy said "It's unreal. The very same evil creature from before"

"Whoa! That's a new twist!" Sonic said. "That's the same dark creature" Sonic remembers encountering the same beast long before he became a Cramoisi, and again back at his castle home.

Richter, Dwayne, Ryan, and Chrome looked at the beast with their eyes narrowed. "NO! They've really have come back!" Dwayne said gritting his teeth.

Klaus then throws the dark Shard in the middle of the battlefield that made a similar glyph found in the Gaia gates. From the glyph came dark Gaia spawn. Around them came more of the dark creatures, the same from Soligl's hand. They jump on the Gaia spawn and fuse with them. The creatures form together to create a new dark creature. It was a blue-black demon with black armor on its chest and lower body. glowing with yellow "V" Shaped eyes and glowing blue teeth and sharp blades coming out of their fore arms. Two horns coming out of their head like a goat. Unlike its current form, this one was standing on two feet.

"Behold, Klaus….Cramoisi…Dusk raiders, a new hybrid of my creation. The** vessel** that is born from the very sins of man, and manifested from every evil deed the underground has done, crossed with Dark Gaia, the very demon sealed in the depths of the earth. Both have merged into a creature that can withstand light and survive without withering away. "I give you…the **navi chaser! **

The creature looked at a the Cramoisi and dashed over to one leaving a blue streak. Sonic barely even saw it coming; it dashed passed him and heads over to Amy.

"EEP!" Amy screamed as the creature punched her in the gut, making her bend down in pain. The creature then grabs her and brings her over to Soligl.

"Heh heh heh…..Impressed?" Soligl turns over to Klaus smiling.

"Very..." Klaus stood their looking at Amy crossing his arms. "There will be no escape from _anywhere"_

"So….that's where they come from." Nero said looking at it from a distance. Nero was watching from a rooftop of a distant building.

"_Can we make our move now?! _

"Well you Be quiet? I'm thinking!"

"_About?"_

"Just, Shut up!"

"He can already make vessels with just one hand?" Richter asked himself

"And he created a new creature from the dark Gaia spawn?" Chrome looks in shock

"What is it with people and stating the obvious all the time?" Tails wondered

Sonic moves over to Amy without thinking, but is instantly blocked by two agents. "Amy!"

"Don't worry…I'm fine!" Amy gets up and looks at Soligl with rage. Out of nowhere, everyone saw more the dark creatures, crooks and Egg pawns everywhere. She then makes a dark portal and jumps through it, reappearing by Sonic's side.

"You soon won't be" Klaus takes out a blue artifact that starts to glow.

"Is that…..oh no!" Darcy looks at the curious object.

"Oh yes…dear Darcy" Klaus smiled as he lifts the artifact in the air. It starts to float in the sky; it was a spherical artifact with strange glyphs on it. "Now….purge!"

"Everyone take cover!" Drarcy flies up and puts a shied around everyone. The artifact goes in the air and unleashes a blue wave. Everyone could see little white-blue tendrils come with the wave flush through the area and the now blue written sky. What was most shocking was when the wave flushed by the criminals, the tendrils seep inside their mouths. As they were entering the bodies, everyone looked in shock as the criminals' attire changes completely. They heard them choking as their bodies glow bright blue. After the flash of blue, all the criminals now had on a blue robe just like the blue agents and holding swords, the Egg pawn's hulls were now a bluish gray and holding glowing blades. Nero sees what's happening and quickly materializes a shield that emits a red shell to protect him from the wave and the tendrils. Sonic and the others look in horror; all of the criminals that were round them were now blue agents with more of the navi chasers by their side.

"No…" Darcy flies up and sees the a faction of the city in ruins with more blue cloaked figures with in a five mile radius. This cloud of blue only reached out so far.

"Everyone….is a blue agent" Sonic looks at the blue agents around him.

"This is becoming dangerous…." Zerach looks around "Klaus truly wants all Cramoisi life wiped from existence…."

"Klausy….what did you do?" Mora asked she as well as the other leaders were still themselves.

"This artifact, changes the molecular structure of a living being, turning them into a follower of the counsel of cobalt, some become blue agents, others become disciples. But all have the same hate for the Cramoisi that burns in their soul. Criminal minds are so easy to manipulate. Give them what they want, and they will be putty in your hands. Soon, even non-criminals shall learn of the deceit of the Cramoisi.

"Well said….Master Klaus" Soligl praised "And what a wonderful way to introduce the new consul of the cobalt shroud, as of now. The Grand Mafia, the criminal underground, is no more."

"What?!" the Solairte brothers said in unison

"Yes, from here on today, the guardian unit of nations, the robian alliance, and the criminal underground, are now associates or the new **Cobalt order**, organized by Mr. Klaus and myself."

"Cobalt order?" Sonic looks around at all the blue agents, chasers and robots.

"No…" Shadow looks down and shakes his head in doubt "Commander Tower would never…"

"it was all his idea…." Klaus said with a smile "Think of it, no more criminals, no more pain or suffering. It will all be over, and we will rid the world of anyone who thinks otherwise…..and soon, the world will see things the way it should be…"

"What…just happened?" Amy asked

"Klaus has set the stage….for an all-out war…against us…" Sonic said bluntly

(((TBC))))

**Oh dear…so many things happening! Sonic and the others are surrounded! What are they to do?! Find out next chapter when they take on the toughest criminals in the now new Cobalt order! **

**BGM links  
>((Soligl's fight; watch?v=Al8eGK3bJ4M )))<strong>

**((Nero's fight: watch?v=3OLax-NenP8 ))) **

**(((((PROFILE UPDATED 12/29/12))))))**


	17. Red vs Blue: The Exen Twelve

**Well here we are! the next chapter! In this chapter there are going to be some INTENSE battles! Hope you guys can keep up because this ride is going to be out of this world! Not to worry, hopefully there won't be lecture long chapters after this one. This one will be one of the last super duper long ones. I promise! Unless...you guys LIKE them being this long, if not I will make them shorter I promise! Don't leave! PLEASE! I'm so lonely...**

**Anywho...lets go on!**

**All Sega characters belong to SEGA. Some fan characters belong to my buddies, and the remaining characters are MINE!**

* * *

><p>Sonic and the others were surrounded! Everywhere they looked they saw a man cloaked in blue. The artifact that Klaus activated turned all the criminals into blue agents, and the robots into nith metal running droids.<p>

"Unbelievable…" Zerach said looking at all the agents.

"This is how Klaus assembles his blue agents?" Shadow asked Darcy

"I thought they were just a bunch of hired hands" Sonic said

"Oh no, hedgehog" Klaus spoke to the group. "I simply agreed to give them what they want. And they all want the same; the destruction of the Cramoisi."

"That's a lie!" Amy shouted "You did something to them!"

"I simply made them realize what they truly want in life. Soon I will make this clear to not just criminals and solders of the military, but civilians as well. Imagine….the entire world hunting you down. There will be no place for you to run or hide. All who oppose the order will be destroyed"

"As you can see, Sonic the hedgehog" Soligl spoke. "We criminals are tired of being hunted down like mad dogs and not being treated as men of business. But with mister Klaus help, we have formed an alliance with the Guardian unit of Nations. Once we rid the world of the greatest threat that could destroy it, we can work together our differences and live peacefully"

"Huh! Do you honestly think I would believe such a bogus story?" Sonic said

"A highly anticipated response, from a monster. Once civilians get a taste of Mr. Klaus' notion of piece, they will want to join the new cobalt mafia"

"Cobalt…Mafia?" Chrome repeated

"Grrr! This goes against everything, of the Criminal underground code!" Richter shouted "You've been twisting and toying with the rules for years, Dante', but this…..this has gone too far! Forcing people to be in the mafia, and merging two opposing groups, all for some ancient animosity?

"I have been having an animosity with your kind for over 5,000 years. Consider it an act of mercy, dear Richter. Joining us is far better than the alternative…"

"Which…is…."

"Death." Soligl appears in front of Richter and Chrome. "Though you may be Cramoisi, and since Rizen is my old friend, I'll give you one last chance; join us, dusk raiders, and I promise I will let your previous transgressions disappear and you two will serve as the Exen twelve once more. "

Richter looks down while clenching is his fist. He looks at Sonic and Darcy and to his crew mates.

"Richter?" Chrome looks at his brother.

"I don't want to say this in front of the children…..but Dante'. " Richter's body glows bright orange and his hammer appears in his hand. "Take your deal and SHIV IT UP YOUR ASS!"

Chrome was shocked to hear Richter. "You heard the man" Chrome chuckled drawing his sword. "Offer denied"

"My goodness, Richter….." Soligl comes up and grabs Richter's mouth and moves it around. "What a marvelous mouth you have…..a shame you won't be using it any longer….." Soligl lets go and starts to float in the air. "You and your dusk raiders will die today, with the Cramoisi. Destroy them!"

**_Chapter 17_**

**_Red vs. Blue The Exen Twelve_**

**_Gathering of the Exen Twelve_**

The massive cobalt army came running at them. "We got to push them back!" Chrome said

"Way ahead of you!" Richter jumps in the air and stomps on the ground hard. "RUMBLE!" shouted Richter shaking the battle field. "EARTH DRAGON'S CLAW!" Richter made a circle in the ground around the Cramoisi and Raiders. Outside the circle, from the ground, came two separate gigantic rows of stalagmites that stretched over half a mile.

"Oh my!" Soligl lifted his hand and instantly all of the other evil cohorts disappear and reappear on a floating mechanical platform with a large arm chair in the center.

"Where…where are we?" Klaus asked looking in the sky

"Not to worry" Soligl sits in the chair. "We are simply observing the demise of your enemies. We will watch as our blue agents finish them off. We here at the underground make sure that a well-paid job gets done. And with this new alliance, we will become the strongest force in the world.

"Humph! So I see" Klaus said crossing his arms.

"Yeah, Klausy!" Mora said rapping her tail around Klaus. "Let's sit back, and watch our enemies cry in agony! Oh! It's like a date! Huh?"

Klaus manages to get free and walk at the edge of the platform. "I wish to see the destruction, for myself. I'll be joining this fight"

"By all means!" the lizard creature Soligl encouraged "I will have my servants assist you on your little excursion"

"Thanks for the assist"

"Oh, Oh! Let me help!" Mora said begging giving him pleading eyes. "I'm very strong!"

"No!"

"Aww please!"

"I said no!"

"Oh, Pooh!" Mora pouts. "You're no fun at all!" she then sees Klaus jump off and to the battle field. "Be careful!"

"GronMin" Eggman Nega turns to his lackey. "Find that failed experiment and bring her back"

"As you wish" he said jumping off the ship.

"Oh, now where did Benedict go? Oh well. Now Dante' or whoever you are now. What about our deal?"

"Be sure to have the flagship ready for when we return to Westopolis.." Soligl said to Nega. "Then we can continue talking about our business with the rogue robians"

"Bah! You take too long! Fine! But this had better be not one of your stupid delays!" Eggman Nega jumps on his Eggmobile and flies off.

"Claw" Soligl turned to his subordinate. "Assist our client. This will be you're first mission as the new **Exen of fire**. Please do your best not to fail me."

"Yes, my lord" said Claw griping on a Red Jema, and jumping off the building.

"Oh! I'm so bored!" Mora sits down pouting.

"You've grown an interest to that Klaus" Soligl said "Are you…falling in love with him?"

"You're kidding right?" Mora looks back. "All men are nothing but walking bottles of honey to me. That's all they will ever be"

"Mmm-mmm…"

(((Back with the group))))

"DROWN!" Richter started spinning his body, making the rows of stalagmites move. As they moved around his group, the wave of rocks engulfed a small fraction for foes in the soil, below. The area was now covered in rocks and elevated dirt. Richter kneels down panting.

"That's not going to be enough!" Dwayne shouted while jumping in the sky. "Chrome, Ryan" Dwayne changed into his werehog from; Ryan and Chrome jumped into the sky with him.

" Frigid blockade!" Chrome shouted as his body was surrounded by a ball of ice.

"long wu Hou !" Ryan shouted, as two fire balls surrounded him. From the fire balls came out two small dragons. (About two and a half feet long) They flew around Ryan, making a sphere of fire. Dwayne stretches his arms and holds his hands around Chrome's ball of ice and Ryan's ball of fire emitting a dark aura.

"Red sun…." Shouted Ryan

"Frozen moon….!" Shouted Chrome

"SHADOW RAVE!" shouted all three unleashing a powerful tornado of ice, fire and dark energy that was bellowing around the army. Blowing them away, and creating a large wall of ice pillars blocking the way in the leveled field, separating the blue army from Sonic and the others.

The three jump down looking at the massive damage done by the attacks. Nearly over a mile of the city was leveled, some buildings were burning, and rocks were elevated everywhere.

"Are you guys trying to destroy the city?!" Sonic asked sarcastically

"A drastic move, but it had to be done." Ryan said "We might have bought some time, very little though."

"What do we do now?" Amy asked

Sonic then looks down thinking about what he heard from Shadow. "The other ten Exen…Richter! Didn't you say there were eleven other fighters, just as strong as you?"

"Yeah…well minus Chrome and that wolf that makes nine, but what does that have to…. with…anything…"

"We have to get out of here! Before the others…" at that moment everyone felt a gust of wind blow through.

"Too late!" Richter shouted seeing something green blow through the sky.

"You fools! Just what the hell are you doing?!" Richter heard a voice from somewhere. The blue agents and chasers were fighting their way through the ice making their way over to the others.

Sonic looked up and saw a green and white gear flying in the sky. Richter's mouth opened wide as he saw who it was. It was a black echidna with a black trench coat pants and shoes. He had green eyes and was staring at Richter dead on.

"Is that you… **Renton**?" Richter asked. The Echidna jumped down and looked at Richter, grinning.

"I'm going to pop that head of yours open!" he said materializing a green sword made of energy.

"Another echidna?!" Knuckles asked as he was being dog piled on some foes.

"Wait Chrome, is he the cousin that you guys don't want to talk about?" Julie asked

"Yes, his name is Renton the Echidna. He's also** one of the Exen Twelve**: the master of **wind**. "Chrome explained.

"So the Exen are going to show up?!" Amy asked

"What do you, think, pinky" said a strange and eerie sounding voice.

From behind Sonic came a puddle of water. Then the puddle came up to Sonic and grabbed him from behind. The puddle then reviled a Green chameleon with green eyes, green coat and green pants. He smiled as he looked at Sonic struggling He chuckles as he speaks. "You look tasty. I'll torment you a little before I cook you! I love to play with my food….Greh heh heh hee ha…"

"Euughhh! Get of me!" Sonic tries to wiggle free.

"'bout time you got here!" shouted the black echidna.

"Let go of him!" shouted Knuckles, forcing the others off him and running to help him. Knuckles, tries to punch him, but the chameleon dodges it.

"Who's that?" Rouge asked.

"That's **Lymph **the **Exen master of water**" Ryan explained

"So…which one of you am I going to carve first?" the lizard asked like a suave gentlemen. Suddenly a loud sonic boom was heard on the west side of the wall shattering some of the ice pillars down, letting the agents and chasers in. Everyone could see a shadowy figure riding on his gear all the way to the group and onto Richter. From out of nowhere came a brown howler monkey wearing a blue coat and blue jeans. Richter as he looked at him. "Why do people keep falling on me?!"

The monkey looks at everyone. "Yuck! They are even more annoying than I thought!"

"**Clangen**? What are you doing here?" Chrome asked

"Don't you notice the **Exen of Sound** when you see him? Uke uke!"

Alice's eyes irises went red." You stupid chimp! LET GO OF MY DADDY!" She runs over to help Richter.

"I think he's a monkey…." Jayden said

"SKWAAAKKKK!"

A dark figure comes screeching down and attacks Alice and throws her down. It was a black vulture with black sharp talons, and a sharp tan beak. He was wearing a black vest, and brown pants. He flies over to Alice and Smiles. "Hello little girl" the bird spoke in a Russian accent. By the flap of his wings he unleashes a powerful dark wind at another part of the ice wall, a part of it to break apart letting more enemies in. "Richter, what is the meaning of this. I'd expect this from Chrome, but you were my singing buddy"

Everyone looks at Richter. "What?" Richter asked "The dude is a boss on the pipe organ. Look, **Baynair** I know you just struck down Alice, but say you're sorry, join us, and all will be forgiven. "

The vulture jumps at Richter and kicks him down and shoots an orb of dark energy from his hand that just barely misses him. "You disappoint me….Solairte"

"Leave him alone!" Ty Screamed changing into his fighter mode and attacking the vulture, but he jumps back punches Ty in the gut, binging him to the ground.

"What's that nasty thing?" Tawny asked.

"**Exen of Darkness?**" Sonic helps Richter up.

"Yeah…who as such a nice singing voice, unlike this chimp right here" Zenith said

"HEY! I'm not a chimp!" the howler monkey stated "Do you see this tail? Do you see chimps with tails like this? I don't think so! And I happen to be a good singer! "

"**Exen of sound** or not, your singing voice is horrible, **Clangen**!" Richter said

"All four of these guys are Exen?" Shadow asked

"Yup. Their strong four star elemental users like Chrome and me. And they…" Richter was stopped by a powerful icy wind.

Suddenly Darcy then felt a chill in the air. In an instant she saw a giant breeze of cold air come out from behind her and Zerach that nearly froze them. They both looked behind them and saw a white Jackal, with a blue coat and dark blue pants.

"Good day to you vermin" he said.

"HSSS! Another one!" hissed Darcy

"Look! It's an ice nerd!" Richter stated

"Silence you worm! I, **Algidius Exen master of Ice **will smite anyone who doesn't fit in to this world." Said the Jackal.

"Whatever you say, nerd" Richter said giggling

The ice wall was still being broken down, this time by many plants and vines everywhere. Some agents were already fighting some of the Cramoisi.

Everyone then saw a flash of light and out of nowhere a man was holding Jazz and hold a knife at the neck. He was a green hedgehog with a green shirt and green pants, and a red band on the top of his head. Jazz looked at him and was in total shock. She was shaking in fear staring into his green eyes. "I finally found you…..Jazz Star"

"Ch…ch…ch" Jazz kept trying to say "**Chiller!"**

"HEY, LET GO OF HER!" Zoomer screamed running at her, but he stopped when he saw Chiller force the knife close to her neck. Everyone could only look as the green hedgehog was holding Jazz hostage.

"Ut tut tut! One more move and I'll cut her neck open!" said Chiller "CCHHHHHCCCC (Cutting noise)

"I can beat you to that knife!" said Zoomer.

"Are you prepared to take that risk, boy?" Chiller asked back "AHHHH!" Chiller's back was shot by Rin-Rin in the lower back. Chiller dropped the knife and turned to see Rin-Rin, who was pointing another arrow at him.

"**Exen master of plant.." ** Chrome told Sonic. "Deadly as he is swift."

"Let my friend go! Or this next one goes through your heart!" Rin-Rin threatened. She suddenly was knocked down, by Renton, who then presses his foot on Rin-Rin's head. Everyone saw more blue agents come at them ready to strike and being led by Klaus.

"You're little game of hide and seek is over" Klaus said "Accept your fate!"

"Never!" Richter said making a pose lifting his finger. Everyone draws their attention to him. He then looks at everyone else and then right at Renton. "I never would have expected you to join this wackjob"

"That's a lot to say after the side you chose" Renton takes his foot off Rin-Rin and pulls out his sword. "Enough talk, let's settle this now!"

"Alright" Richter materializes his large hammer. "Looks like this where we make our stand"

"It's been a thrill fighting with ya Richter" Blade said

"Feeling's mutual, old friend"

"Richter, if we don't make it out of this, I just want to let you know it was me who ate all those fancy chocolate mints from holoska!" Zenith said

Richter then glares back at Zenith. "You told me it was Quinn! I took his teething ring because of that! It was you?!" OHHHH! HOOO HHOOOO!" Richter was then kicked and blown away by a powerful wind, but Renton who goes after him.

"Sorry!" Zenith shouted looking back at the enemies attacking the other raiders.

"You realize he is going to kill you, if we survive this" Blade said

"I know…" Zenith sighed

"Sonic!" Amy shouted to him as he was still being held by Lymph. "Do you need…"

"I'm fine!" he shouted back. "Help the others!"

Amy looks back, but was then hit by the howler monkey Clangen. "Come on, freaky pinky! I want to see how you female vampires work it!"

"Oh…" Amy had a mad mark on her forehead as she made one of her Piko-Piko hammers appear along with the jema that turns into a pink-black hammer. "I'm going to ape on you! YAAHHHH!" Amy jumps at Clangen.

"I'm a MONKEY!"

The vulture, Baynair stares at the small group of Cramoisi and raiders looking at him. So…who wants to be my partner first?"

"Ohh he's tough" Silver turns and sees the white elf with purple hair looking at him. (See the end of 14 for details) "You going to back down?"

"No…." Silver looks at Baynair. "I'm going to take you down!"

"I'm right behind you!" Blaze said to him.

Alice slowly gets up from the attack earlier. "GRRRRR! You're mine pigeon!"

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Alice turns around and sees GronMin walking over to her. Even with her increased height, she was three feet shorter than the heavy metal man. She looks back at Ty who was still fighting and turns back to GronMin.

"This isn't going to be like last time" she said getting ready to fight him.

"I'll take care of Chiller" Blade told Chrome.

"Leave Algidius to me…" Shadow said.

"I'll help Amy with Clangen" Chrome answered "I will not have any casualties; we beat them down and let's meet back at the ship!"

"Aye-Aye!" blade said running off.

Klaus walked over to Darcy and Zerach holding his two blades. Algidius got out a blue Jema stone that became a sapphire Javelin. "Rimglaceior,(Rim-glace-eor) lend me your strength" He then turns and looks at Klaus "Your elegant attire looks impressive, perhaps even a match to my very own." Algidius said.

"If you're so focused on wiping out the impure, then you should focus on the fight!" Klaus said back.

"I have failed you….Klaus…" Zerach said "I thought by now you would learn who the true face of evil is"

"From my understanding….I'm looking right in the face of evil" Klaus said back. "And I will destroy that evil, even if it's my own blood!"

"Then you are lost!" Zerach arms himself.

**_Now it's time for the battles! Each battle will be happening at the same time. For less confusion, I will address who will be battling who at the start of the battle. If it's still hard for you to follow, I'm sorry. But if not, please enjoy. _**

**_Please note!: Not all battles will be displayed. To see more of the battles please look at chapters 16 and 17 of Radiant Darkness: Orange Dawn the Garnet Guard _**

**_Sadly i could not come up with BGM for all battles, so you guys will have to come up with some on your own!  
><em>**

**_((((Exen Boss Fight 1; Klaus, Algidius and Claw)))))  
><em>***_Good guys; Shadow, Darcy, Zerach, Lori, Ryan, Toby, Dwayne, Daniel,  
>Daniel and other Cramoisi will be fighting as well.<em>**  
><strong>

Klaus was first to strike at Darcy; He rammed his body at her as quick as a flash. She quickly gets up and kicks Klaus in the face, while summoning her sword, and swinging it at him. Klaus blocks it and tries to hit her with his other sword. Zerach stands up and attacks Klaus from behind. Klaus is tossed back to the ground. Daniel grabs Klaus by the arms, flips his body, and throws him to the ground. Daniel then gets his sword at swings it at Klaus, however it was blocked after Klaus got back up and grabs his arm and pulls him to his face.

"Nice try" He then throws Daniel on the ground hard. Klaus tries to strike but Darcy blocks the attack and pushes him back.

"Daniel, let Zerach and I handle this" Darcy instructed "You help your brothers and sisters"

"Alright mother" Daniel gets back up and runs off.

"You sniveling vermin!" Darcy and Zerach see Algidius fire a barge of ice shards at the couple, but Ryan jumps in and melts the ice with a wall of fire.

"YOU!" Klaus screamed.

"You remember me? How wonderful." Ryan said drawing his swords, and looking back at Klaus. "You owe me a rematch" Ryan swung his swords at Klaus. Both weapons clashed, and made a sharp clang notice.

"You're that fool who opposed me back at **Jagged Valley**. (See chapter 11 for deets) "I told you, you know not the skills I have mastered over the years!" Ryan jumped back and uncovered his collar, revealing his mouth.

"And you don't know what _I'm _capable of." He said as soot was escaping from his mouth. He then slams his hand on the ground and a fiery dragon comes out from the ground. "Rise Emperor Phoenix dragon!"

(Note; The EPD looks like a fiery Chinese dragon with wings on its back and soot coming out of its nose. Its normally about 8 kilometers long and curls itself about 4 feet away from Ryan, but this time it's about 1.5 kilometers long .)

The dragon roars a mighty roar and stars at Klaus.

"OH MY!" Darcy exclaimed.

"Most impressive!" Zerach said.

"Humph! Ok so I underestimated you, however." A group of blue agents appeared in cloud of blue smoke. "Is it going to be enough?"

"Your men have no chance, Klaus. Surrender and I will spare you the embarrassment." Zerach said

"Don't get too excited, you fools!" Claw jumps in from a distance and his hands start to burn a purple flame. "I'll show you a _real _dragon!" Claw slammed his hand on the ground and the ground began to shake. Then large cracks appeared in the earth's crust. Everyone heard a powerful roar, unlike any other. Then from the depths came out a large fiery black and purple dragon. It flew in the air blowing out purple fire, and landed next to Claw.

"I'm sensing pure evil" Darcy said. "As if the dragon is it's spawn"

"Behold." Claw said "The wrath of true hell: BLACK PHENOX DRAGON!"

Ryan stared at the dragon as its nose was spewing out smoldering sparks. "Claw….of all the things you've done, this is by far the foolish. What manifestation have you tainted your dragon with?!"

"Tainted?! Lord Dante' has given me a chance to prove my usefulness in this world, and made me Exen. I can now prove to those who stand against me that I'm am a force to be reckoned with!" Claw lifts up the red Jema from his hand. "I call on you, Scolignuior! (Scol-ig-nu-ior) " a large sword appears in Claw's hands, in a blaze of fire.

"What you are son, is a pawn in this sick game that Soligil has laid out" Zerach Explained. "Anyone's heart that's been poisoned with such lies will meet an unfitting….UHH!" before Zerach could finish Algidius ran his javelin and him, and Zerach barley blocks it.

"You talk too much, mongrel." he said

"Hey high heels!" Dwayne shouted from a distance and attacked Algidius from the side in his werehog form. He then turned to Claw and ran over to attack.

"Dwayne, get back!" shouted Ryan

"Black Hellfire!" The black dragon attacked Dwayne with a black fire attack. Darcy ran over and blocked it with her sword, but was then blow away by the powerful blast. Dwayne avoids the attack and runs over and attacks Claw, by pouncing on him, growling ferociously.

"I'll drag you down to hell, you traitor!" he growled

"You don't know the meaning of the word, idiot." Claw's mouth then sparked out black and purple fire. He then blows it at Dwayne, who barley dodges it. Claw gets up smirking at Dwayne. "Ryan's not the only fire breather, you know."

Ryan's Dragon and Claw's Dragon were fighting, breathing fire and trying to bring each other down with their claws.

Ryan went after Klaus. "I'm not through with you yet!"

"Rise from the ground and skewer; Metallum Cage!" Klaus slams his blade town on the ground, and then hundreds of blades shoot out of the ground and come raining down at Ryan. Ryan got out his blades connects them together and sets them on fire with his flame breath. He throws his blades at the swords knocking a few down. Ryan then puts up a fire wall to black the others. His sword then come spinning back to Ryan; he grabs them while looking at the fallen blades around him.

"So you're a steel user too." declared Ryan

"Indeed" said Klaus "as I told you, swordsmen, your skills cannot come close to what I have mastered!" Klaus hands then started to emit a maroon aura. Then two small orbs appeared in his hands. He puts them together and they merge in to a bigger ball. Then all the blades on the ground form around the maroon ball.

"He can use gravity too?!" Ryan said.

Klaus chuckled at Ryan's bewilderment. He throws the ball with blades at Ryan. The ball extended around Ryan, trapping him inside, and slowly ascends in the air. The blades that were in the ball form around Ryan, pointing at him. Ryan tries to break free but was trapped by Klaus' gravity hold. "Oh, I have many, many torture methods in my arsenal. You know what's best about this one? I don't have to get my hands dirty. I can easily break you down, and drag you to the depths of the earth, or hurtle you in to the coldness of space.

"Impressive" Ryan said "but you forgot one thing"

"What?" Before he knew it Ryan's dragon charged his head at Klaus knocking him down. The ball then disappeared and Ryan was free. As Ryan's dragon looks at Klaus look at him, it was knocked down by the black dragon. Ryan then feels a pain in his back and kneels down, not seeing Claw walk up to him ,smiling.

"Keep an eye on my dragon now, or you might get killed." He said

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow launched a spear of energy at Claw, hitting him on the arm. Shadow runs up to Ryan with his black sword. "You look like your holding up well. Do you need my help?"

"Much obliged." Ryan gets up arming himself.

Julie brought out her blaster and shot at Claw, but Claw used his large sword to block the attack. Jem was hovering over the sky trying to shoot the Black Dragon. The Dragon blew fire at her, but was not fast enough to stop her. Claw felt the impacts coming from the dragon, as if he was getting hurt himself. Dwayne came running at Claw with full speed. "Savage Reaper!" He shouted as his hands were glowing a dark violet red color. He jumped at Claw and shredded his tunic open with his claws. Claw had a large gash in his chest. He was panting in agony, looking at Dwayne, who had his Dark gun pointed at him. "This ends now!"

"NOT YET!" shouted Claw

"HUH?!" From Claw's blood came out three smaller dragons, that came charging at Dwayne, wrapping all around him. "GGRRRRR DAMN YOU!"

"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" laughed Claw. "Even with all the training I gave you, you're still WEAK! You're not even fit to be in the underground. Why do you think I let you to that trap in Black Mountain Zone?! The military wanted to end us; someone had to take the fall. I chose you because you and crew were weak! Now you're going to join them!" Claw then felt red Dragons wrap around him "WHAT!" Ryan was walking up to Claw.

"Don't forget, Claw" Ryan Started "I have a score to settle too"

* * *

><p>The other Cramoisi were fighting the chasers and blue agents while Darcy and Zerach were fighting Klaus.<p>

Klaus jumps on a destroyed building and focuses on the fallen debris lifting it in the air using gravity, and throws it at the couple. Darcy counters by stopping the debris causing it to float in the air. She then jumps on them to get t Klaus and swings her sword , Klaus however manages to block the attack easy.

"It's only a matter of time, Darcy" Klaus said keeping is ground "What's it going to be? Are you going to leave your "children" to die as you did three millennia ago? In another minute…this whole city will be your enemy. And there will be nothing you can do!"

"I will make sure that doesn't happen! You're a fool to believe Soligl. Stop this now or I will silence you!" Darcy said back with her eyes glowing brighter. "GAHHH!"

Darcy was blown back by a gust of ice. She falls on the ground with her wings nearly frozen. The figure jumps down and looks at Darcy it as Algidius pointing his javelin at her. "A fitting end for such trash…."

"Wrath of the heavens; Holy lance!" Algidius was stopped by a large glowing lace that nearly skewered him in the chest. Zerach runs up to the jackal swinging his sword, but he was blocked off by Klaus. "Yield, Klaus. You're out matched"

"And you're outnumbered! NAHH!" Klaus throws another artifact in the ground that unleashes another pulse in the ground this time.

All the Cramoisi who were fighting blue agents see the ground moving they then see more chasers rise up with glowing crystals for hands. They were coming up everywhere, outnumbering the Cramoisi .

"You...you've made more?" Zerach looks around him looking at the chasers.

"These creatures are equipped with high quality Nith metal, one punch will feel that of a thousand needles.

"Let's end this, Mr. Klaus" Algidius said "I grow tired of these faces"

"I couldn't agree more. Hmmm?" Klaus sees another sword pointed at him. "What?"

"Don't hurt them" Lori was standing in front of Darcy and Zerach with her sword in hand. "..and I'll let you live"

"Lori…"Algidius said in a soft tone. "Get away from them; they are in league with Chrome!"

"They aren't my enemy, and you are a liar. Chrome didn't kill my uncle."

"They have tricked you, child. They all have been hexed by that queen. " Lori could see the Chasers close in on the three. Darcy and Zerach feel the effects from the stones making them drowsy. "Come to our side, where it's safe"

"Child…" Darcy said in a weak tone. "Please…step back…this isn't your fight…"

"You're wrong" Lori turns around and uncovers her sleeve showing her blue moon tattoo. "If my new sensei believes in me, then I won't let him down."

"You've…you've become one of them?!" Algidius steps back.

"She's gone, Algidius" Klaus said "There is only one way to save her…bring them down!" Right when he gave the order, the chasers fell to the ground covering their ears. "What?! What's wrong with you! Attack!" Klaus could hear the sound of a flute playing. Lori turns around and sees Toby playing his Gaia flute making the monsters cringe agony The Cramoisi then jump in and strike them down. "What?!"

"I know it wasn't much of my choice" Toby stops playing while looking at the five. "but I refuse to sit by and let you people do what you want.."

"You're both fools! You are mortals protecting demons who will…"

"Gravity pulse!" Lori thrust her hand forward. It was a weak attack, but strong enough to push the two back to the wall with gravity.

"You're a gravity user" Algidius said in shock

"It matters not!" Klaus jumps up and swings his sword at Lori, but his attack was blocked by someone else. It was Shadow with his sword.

"There happens to be a lot of surprise appearances happening now" Algidius said drawing his javelin.

"Lori, get out of here" Shadow ordered

"No" Lori runs up to Algidius, but she was stopped dead in her tracks. The two of them were locking weapons.

"Lori….this is your last chance. Come back to me…and we can avenge Dannith" Algidius warned

"I already am… and that's fighting as a dusk raider!"

Shadow jumps at Algidius, swinging his sword. "You are a fool for siding with these beasts!"

"Now…" Klaus sees Shadow and Algidius fighting, Lori goes after them, and Toby was still playing his flute. Klaus runs up to him, but Zerach stops him in his tracks.

"You never were a fan of music, were you?" Zerach points his sword at Klaus.

* * *

><p>The Cramoisi were able to get an advantage against the Chasers, however they were still trying to bring down the agents. "There's so many!" said a green haired one., while blowing them away with a wind attack. He wore a purple shirt and green pants. " This is getting Old fast!"<p>

"I don't know how much more I can take" said a pink haired one kneeling down she was wearing purple coat with tan pants. The two of them saw a purple badger come at them killing some blue agents with his claws.

"Troy, Meliko (mel-eh-ko), don't let up! You hear me! Mother's doing her best to take down Klaus! If she wins we can end this war!"

"Calm down, Joaquin." said Daniel walking up. "Don't forget that we are up against the Nith metal blades. We're at a huge disadvantage. "

"There're too many, brother!" said an orange raccoon "If we keep this up, we won't last much longer"

"That's quitter talk!" shouted Tawny " You guys are all weak!" Zeke was killing as many blue agents as possible, and apologizing for each one he takes down.

"You need to calm down, sis" said a blue haired woman walking up. She was wearing a purple tank top and black pants. "Look at you, even you're having a hard time standing up" Next to her was a blonde man trying to fight off Chasers and agents. "Oh my!" said the woman as used a loud Cramoisi screech to blow them of and kill them all with glowing blue knives. "Are you Ok, Honey?"

The man was silent and he gives her a smile with a light nod

"ESTER, BEHIND YOU!" shouted the badger shooting a bolt of lightning at the upcoming blue agent, and using a crystal lance to finish him. "That was close." But then more and more agents surrounded the group. "Aww Damn it!"

"LONG FENGBAO!" shouted a voice from a distance. Everyone saw a miniature Dragon come and singe the agents and chasers. Ryan was walking up to the group. Then the dragon came back to Ryan and sat on his shoulder. He then saw the chasers get back up and run over to him. Ryan made some signs in the air (Chinese to be exact) and a glowing orange circle appeared, and two dragons cane out and blew fire at the Chasers killing them off. The dragons came back to Ryan and wrapped around him. "Is everyone Ok?"

"How many of those things can you call?" asked Tawny.

"I take that as a yes" Ryan said petting his dragons. "Excellent work you two."

"Forgive her. Mr. Ryan was it?" said the blue haired girl Ester "Thank you"

"How cute!" shouted Claw from behind sending a dark miniature dragon at Ryan. Ryan sends his Dragon to attack the other one, to block the attack. HEI FANG ZAI YAO!" Claw sent two more Dragons spinning at Ryan in a dark spiral spin. Ryan jumps out of the way and sends another Dragon to intercept. The attack is blocked, but both Dragons are bashing at each other.

"All of you, Go now! I'll handle Claw!" Ryan shouted at the group of Cramoisi.

"But Mr. Ryan" Ester said

"I said go! Now!" Ryan demanded. Still doubting herself, Ester and the others ran to help Darcy.

* * *

><p>Shadow and Algidius were lunging at each other with their weapons. "Slow" Algidius brings ice up from the ground to block Shadows attacks. Shadow uses his sword to cut the ice pillars down. He shoots then a chaos Spear where Algidius stood. Algidius blocks the attack with two ice pillars. "Sloppy" Shadow runs up and breaks the ice pillars in two and swings his sword, but Algidius blocks it with his lance. "You're sword fighting is so inexperienced. I can easily break through your defenses" Algidius ridiculed.<p>

"So why don't you?!" Shadow said fighting back

Shadow jumps up to the sky and kicks Algidius in the face, jumps back and throws another Chaos Spear at him. Algidius avoids it and counters with an needle of ice. Shadow gets hit and is thrown on the ground, but then warps and reappears in front of Algidius and kicks him. He then throws multiple punches and kicks to him, bringing him down. Shadow then runs over about to strike once more, but Algidius slams his fist on the ground shooting ice up from the ground, sending Shadow up in the air. Algidius jumps in the air and starts attacking Shadow hand to hand in the air using the ice pillars to keep him airborne. Both fighters were evenly matched as they slowly began to descend form the ground. Shadow Grabs on to Algidius from behind then his body starts to glow a bright red. "CRMSION CHAOS BLAST" he shouted unleashing a might blast of Chaos energy.

Shadow fell to the ground on his feet and saw Algidius fall to the ground. He was panting as he got up holding his arm. "I..will not be beaten by you pesky vermin! "

Shadow was about to attack again, but he then he was caught in a series of ice pillars. His limbs were locked by the pillars making it impossible to escape.

"YAHHH!" Lori comes up to Algidius swinging her sword. Algidius blocks the attack just barely. "This is where it ends!"

"Lori!" Shadow calls out to the young girl trying to break free from the pillars. "Damnit! She's too stubborn!"

"You vial little girl!" Algidius keeps attacking Lori relentlessly. "You couldn't just follow orders like a good young lady"

"My orders to kill an innocent man?!" It seemed as if she had the upper hand; Lori was swinging her sword at the jackal quickly and swiftly backing him up to a corner. However, Lori was still at a disadvantage. The brisk cold temperatures were getting to her and it was hard for her to keep up with Algidius' attacks.

"That worm is anything but innocent! Just like your uncle. All of them were brainless dogs following their master. They had to wiped out!"

"What…what are you saying?" Lori asked "Those people were my friends, my family, and now they are gone!"

"Anyone who has ties such as those are weak!" Algidius throws an ice shard at Lori's arm, hitting her causing her to loosen her grip on her sword. She kneels down and looks at the Jackal about to strike. "And it was that very reason they were so easy to bring down."

"Why…how are you…"

"You are so foolish! I was going to pull you out and make you perfect, that's why I got rid of them…..that is why it was _I _who slain your precious Uncle Dannith."

Lori's eyes widen in rage. Her body then glows dark maroon. "YAHHHHH!" She gets up and swings her sword at him wildly "AHH HAA HAA AAHH AHH!" She was screaming out of control trying to hit Algidius, but was missing every time. YOU LYING BITICH! I"LL KILL YOU!" *gasp* Before she could make another move Algidius had his Javelin under left her triceps.

"Just like all you vermin….wild and untamed" Shadow was still trapped but his eyes widen at the sight he saw. He heard Lori scream at the top of her lungs. Algidius had swung his weapon on Lori's right arm, cutting it off. "Upstart!" he swings it again at her legs bringing her down. "Thoughtless! " Lori continued to scream as Algidius continues to swing his weapon. "All of you…are feral vermin" he swings it one more time on Lori's face. "Know the pain of your folly. The pain of mongrels! AHH!"

Out of nowhere, Toby comes and punches him in the faces and continues to punch him. Algidius jumps back and puts his hands together blowing an icy wind at the boy blowing him back, and close to Shadow.

"I'm going to end you all! Algidius then heard his com-link beep. He presses the button in his ear, and hears a familiar voice.

"Algidius, I am ordering you and the other Exen to Retreat, is that understood?" Soligl said through the link

Algidius' eyes widen. "but sir! I was just about to….."

"Are you questioning my authority, Exen?"

"No sir….But"

"I gave you an order to retreat! Now listen...Claw is severely injured I want you to get on board Eggman Nega's flagship . The other Exen should be there soon. Is that Clear?"

"*Sigh* yes sir" Algidius looks back at Shadow who was still trapped, Toby who was trying to get up but was shivering from the ice, and Lori who couldn't even move He then scoffs and turns away from them.

"Get back here!" Shadow demanded "We're not done!'

"Unfortunately….yes we are. We will meet another time Cramoisi scum! Not even you can stand a chance at my marvelous skill" Algidius disappeared in a white cloud of ice. Shadow screamed trying to break free.

"Brother!" Damien runs up to Shadow and Toby.

Toby was shivering nearly having frostbite but he gets up and limps over to Lori. "Lori…" he tries to get to her but then falls down.

"Toby!" Saphron runs up to him, helping him up.

Jayden runs up to Lori, but then gasped while looking away. "No….No..no.. …Not again….not again not again…." He starts weeping covering his face repeating the same words.

"Jay….Jayden…." Lori cried weakly to him.

Cosmo walks up to her, ignoring the grotesque scene of Lori, cut up and bruised. "Oh dear….." Lori had one eye closed and her hand covering her other eye. Cosmo kneels down and her hands start to glow green. She was trying to soothe Lori's pain. "We have to get her out of here"

"But what about Shadow?" Damien asked

Marine was trying to move the ice, trying to manipulate the water, but the ice was far too solid for her even move. "This ice is too hard….It's like trying to move steel"

"Oh dear….what a shame…." Everyone heard a voice nearby; they look and see the silver wolf with a pair of sunglasses on. "What seems to be wrong?"

"Get out of here!" Cosmo gets up getting ready to battle. "Jayden, we have to get Lori out of here" Jayden lifts his head still sniffling, but he then nods and walks over to her about to pick her up.

"Do it that way, and she'll lose all her blood and die" the silver wolf uttered

"What?!" the two said

the wolf does a few arm and hand moves; Jayden and Saphron see a large tub-like carrier surround around Lori softly lifting her up and floats in the air. "I like me a good fight, but seeing children get beat up just isn't fun….now…." he then gets out a bottle and pops the top open and drinks the contents inside. He stops and throws the bottle at a rock shattering it. "Let's do something about that ice…" he then starts to sway left and right and turns around at Shadow. "EEEE-WHOA-TA-TATI! WHAT-TA-TA-TA! KYYAHAHHHH!" He jumps up and kicks the ice breaking it to pieces freeing Shadow. Shadow falls down, but quickly gets back up and sees Kaiser walk over to Toby.

"Why did you free me?" he asked

The wolf kneels down to Toby and pulls him up. "Jezz…if you're going up against an _ice _user, you might want to find something different to wear than a vest with no shirt. Can you walk?"

"I…I think so…." Toby spoke. he then then gets out a piece of metal and bends it into a cane, and gives it to Toby.

"Who are you?" Cosmo asked

"Me" the wolf smiles at the group showing his black sclera red eyes and putting his hand on Lori's forehead "I'm just a bloody Exen"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Goin' Banana's: the former Exen of Sound<br>_**

((((Exen Boss fight 2: Clangen)))  
>*Good guys; Amy, Tails, Chrome, Zenith, Malcolm Fear?<p>

"HAAAAHHH! " Amy swings her hammer at Clangen who jumps out of the way. He then kicks Amy in the face, while grabbing her by the neck.

"Uke! Uke! You look kind of hot for a freak." He said about to touch his chest.

"Frigid wind; Cryo Storm!" He shouted as a large gust of wind blows from his sword.

"AHHHHH!" Clangen was blown back by the attack releasing Amy.

"Are you ok?" Chrome walks up to her.

"When I get my hands on that rotten ape…" Amy said getting up.

"Technically, Amy he a…."

"flamboyant shriek; Mind Jammer " The Monkey screamed at the echidna. Chrome covered his ears as he heard the ear piercing sound wave. Suddenly out of nowhere a pink hammer hit Clangen right in the back. He turns around and sees Amy holding the hammer.

"Amy!" Chrome looks at the pink hedgehog "Thanks"

"Don't mention it" she said smiling

"Pesky girl! I'll-"

"Chaos Lance!" a beam of red light came from behind. Clangen jumps out of the way and sees that it was Fear who fired the lance. "The next one won't miss banana breath!"

Amy looked confused knowing how Fear attacked Shadow in the past, and now she's helping them.

"Are you going to stare at me all day, or are you going to fight?" Fear asked Amy.

"Yeah, but why are you helping me?" Amy asked back

Fear looked away from Amy looking distraught. "Circumstances have changed. Anyway I'll explain later, here he comes!"

Clangen fires another sound wave, at the girls. He's then hit by a ball of fire; Tails comes flying down with six of his flaming namesakes burning. Zenith then shows up in a bolt of lightning and Zaps Clangen. The five of them stare at him, waiting for his next move.

"What kind of freaks are you with those wings and teeth?! Think you can just barge on in and take out some of our guys? You don't know what you're in for!" The howler monkey said

"You're the freak, gorilla boy!' Zenith said. His body then charges electric energy " Bolting laser!" Zenith's body turned in to a ball of lighting, and hurls right at Clangen.

"I'm a monkey! UKE! SCATTER WAVE!" He brings out two large cymbals and crashes them at Zenith stopping him in his tracks sending him flying back where he was. "I have been given Jema too! I'm going make you all deaf, and mash you pieces! YUK-YUK-YUK! A gift from master Dante': A Jema called Noitonuior (Noy-ton-u-nior) I Clangen Clanging Etellrea will symbolize chaotic calamity!" He continues to crash his cymbals creating waves of sonic energy at everyone blowing them away and causing more destruction. Amy throws her hammer at Clangen, but he catches it catches the hammer and throws it on the ground. He then comes at her crashing the cymbals. Chrome ran at him and swung his sword at him

"Space gate: Rift ripple. His sword opened up a purple hole that was about to suck him in the hole.

"Heh heh! OH NO YOU DON"T!" Clangen then disappears in a flash and appeared right behind him. Chrome swung his sword but missed. He then heard a powerful sonic boom and gets blown way. Clangen was standing behind Chrome holding his cymbals ready to strike again, but Fear then appears right behind Clangen and grabs his shoulder.

"Chaos nightmare!" She shouted. Purple and blue energy surged through Clangen making him scream. Fear drops him down; Tails fires another ball of fire, burning Clangen. The five walk up to him who was shivering from the attacks, they then here him start to laugh.

"Oh you're in for it now!" he said as his body began to glow white. He got up and a ball of purple energy surrounds him. The five who were fighting him felt the ground shake. Then Clangen's body began to grow while emitting purple energy. He gets up with revealing his larger body. He looked more muscular and had eyes with no pupils. He stares at the five and smiles. "OOO OOO AHH AHHH NEAHH! He screams like the ape...or monkey he is.

"Did he use one of those dark gems?" asked Zenith

"No, this is what he becomes when he's mad" said Chrome.

"AH -HA-HA-HA-HA!" He shouted unleashing a wave of sonic sound at the group, blowing them away. He wasn't done with them yet, he runs over about to pull off another attack, but suddenly he sees a hedgehog come in his way and shoot a blast form his arm gun. It was Malcolm coming in the battle. Clangen then screams and runs over to try and grab him, but Malcolm was too fast for him. "HHHUUUUU!" He shouted holding in his breath. "AHHHHHH!" He then slams his fist on the ground and starts shrieking a wail, causing Malcolm to kneel down. Fear was fires chaos spears at him, trying to knock him down; Tails was also throwing yellow balls of fire, but the mad monkey just kept standing and flailing his arms trying to knock those around him. Malcolm activates his arm cannon and fires a blue flame at him, burning everything around him. Clangen uses his cymbals to blow the flames away. Malcolm covers his ears unable to move. The flames start to diminish and Clangen uses his cymbals to attack Malcolm, by slamming his cymbals with him in the middle. Malcolm falls to the ground, grunting in pain. Malcolm looks at Clangen with is lock-on cursor, and launches missiles from his back. The Missiles blast the large monkey down. Chrome then jumps in the air and shoots ice needles at with his sword. Clangen uses his cymbals as sheilds to block the attack. Fear then jumps on him. Her body starts to glow violent red"

"CHAOS….BLAST!" Her body makes a massive explosion that destroyed every bot and chaser the five were fighting.

"Wow! You really are Shadow's sister!" said Tails

"Nice going, you know for a bad guy." Zenith complemented

"Humph! Was nothing compared to my true power." Fear said crossing her arm. She then felt movement under her feet. "What?!"

"Yup! She's shadow's sister alright" Amy said

"And that blast felt more like a slap!" said Clangen getting up. He pushes Fear off, on to Malcolm. Amy comes at Clangen with full power and whacks him in the back. Clangen sees her and tries to grab her, but Amy doges it and hits him in the legs. Clangen grabs Amy by the hammer and throws her into a building, he then runs over to her to finish her. "All crush you like a grape! Come here you little prick!"

"Clangen!" everyone heard a voice coming from the left. They then saw a brown gorilla as big as Clangen come at him at full ramming speed. He was wearing a metal suit of Armor with blue jeans. He knocks him into the building adjacent to the one Amy hit. He then gets out a set of bongos starts bashing on them making the ground shake, then the building stats crashing down on Clangen. When the smoke cleared all that was left was a large pile of rubble, and a glimpse of Changen's hand sticking out. Chrome walked up to the gorilla, who looked down on him. Amy gets out of the rubble holding her arm.

"I'm not sure who you are but….wait…aren't you?" Chrome said stroking his chin.

"Indeed young James. It's been too long" said the gorilla patting his back.

Amy giggled "James?"

"Uhhh!….I can see now why Clangen called himself the Exen of sound." Chrome did his best to make Amy forget the name the gorilla uttered.

"So…_Chrome_ who's your friend?" Amy asked while being helped by Zenith.

The Gorilla turned around and smiled at Amy bowing his head "**Kamol Kong**, former Exen of sound, little lady"

"Former Exen? Wait! You're a Criminal lord? But I thought you'd be.."

"Well now, Chrome here isn't evil. Many of my people in the underground tend to make a living, but we don't do anything rough. So Where's your brother?" Kamol asked.

"He's fighting Renton. So about Clangen, is he…?" Chrome started to ask looking at the rubble but then he saw the rubble as If someone got out. Chrome didn't see the hand in the rubble anymore. It was gone. "Dang! He got away"

"The coward must have freed himself! Don't worry I'll get him next time!" Kamol said with gusto. Everyone saw Robots and Chaser show up all round them. "Looks like now isn't the time to reminisce"

Chrome closed his eyes and lifted his hands. Then two large glowing dark red orbs appeared on his hands. "Imbibe in the void; Rift Shatter!" he said. Then the two balls burst into little pieces, shooting at all the chaser and bots. At that moment every last enemy had little small circles on then that were sucking them inside the small rifts. They stood there helpless as the rifts slowly suck then into a void of nothing. Within Seconds the enemies were all gone, not a single part of them left. Chrome then kneels down, panting.

Kamol looked at Chrome and smiled. "Good, to see you live up to your expectations: **Exen master of Gravity**"

"What?" Amy asked "You mean…"

"That's right" Chrome said "Richter and I, are of the Exen twelve"

"NO WAY!" Amy shouted "Well, actually that didn't surprise me that much. So Nero was referring to Richter…the Exen of Earth"

"I'm the Exen of Gravity, and Richter is the Exen Earth" Chrome explained. "But anyway let's go and see if others need our help"

"What do we do?" Tails asked

"We can't risk and casualties. Zenith, scope around and see if you can find anyone" Chrome ordered

"Got it" Zenith turns into a bolt of lightning at takes off.

"I'm going to fight…on my own" Fear said walking away from the group. "I'll….meet up with Shadow later."

"What about us?" Tails asked next to Amy

"We're going after Clangen" Chrome said

"I will join you" Kamol said

"Alright, we'll meet with the others in one hour"

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>Birds shouldn't fly in a lightning storm<span>_**

**_(((Exen Boss Fight 3; Baynair))))_**  
><em><span>*good guys; Silver, Blaze, Jayden, Ty, Mercury<span>_

Jayden and Ty were trying to bring down Baynair, unfortunately the bird had the upper hand, blowing them way with a darkness wave. Jayden was able to climb on his back, trying to subdue him.

"Hey you dumb bird!" shouted Silver running over to help them. Silver used his psychic powers to hold down the bird.

"Oh…you naughty hotty hog! Unleash shrieking horrors; black wave! " Baynair unleashes a wave of dark energy at Silver blowing him away. "Who's next?"

"I am, you over-grown turkey!" Blaze jumps in the air and catches him before he lands back the ground. Blaze fires a fire ball at Baynair, but he dodges it, and shakes Jayden off. Jayden tries to get up but then is knocked down again by Baynair. Ty jumps at the bird turning his forearms into axes. Both of them were fighting fist to talon. Ty jumped into the air and slammed his axes on to Baynair's wings, bringing him down.

Baynair's wings then turned razor sharp "Bring it on, metal man!" He charges right at Ty and Silver and swing his wings at the two. He was stopped, dead in his tracks by Mercury's gravity hold. Mercury pushes her hands forward sending the vulture right at a building. Baynair jumps in the sky, and he hovers over the crew. His body starts to glow a dark purple. He spins in a ball and launches himself at the four. The four dodged the attack but then a large wave of purple energy surged all around then engulfing them in a shroud of darkness. Silver and the others were on the ground struggling to get back up. Baynair flies back in the sky and a ball of Yellow and purple energy comes out of his beak. The ball comes crashing down at the group, blowing them away. Silver regains his footing and uses is psychic abilities to catch everyone else Silver was painting rapidly slowly bringing everyone down. The four of them started at the vulture as he was giving them a dark chuckle. Baynair was flying over Ty, Silver, Blaze, and Mercury." Well this was too easy. I guess I'll go help the others in taking down these so called Cramoisi.

"You sure you want to do that my friend?

"Huh?" Baynair looked around to find out where that voice came from. He then saw a blots of lightning suddenly form around him. "What the..?!"

"Rage of Thor ; Indignation! " The bolts of lightning shocked Baynair in a ball of white lightning.

"AAAAHHHHHHHH!" He screamed. "Who is the dead man who would attack me!?"

Silver lifted his head and saw a bolt of lightning come down right in front of him. The lightning soon reviled a Black panther with a black vest and tan pants. He was knelt down on the ground as he got up and looked at Baynair with his emerald green eyes. "Hello, Baynair, long time so see" the panther spoke in a African accent.

"Who…who are you" Silver asked strained getting up.

"Try not to talk, boy" The panther then made some signs in the air. Then all of a sudden Silver and the others got up feeling better. "Now, do you feel like resuming?"

"Wow! Exclaimed Ty. "I feel great!"

"Where's Jayden?" Mercury asked

"He's fine. He's helping Saphron and the other young ones" Blaze said

"Upstart! You'll pay for that?!" Baynair charges for the panther. The panther jumps into the air, and launches a bolt of lightning from his hand, that hits Baynair in the back. Ty strikes Baynair in the belly with his razor sharp blades, then Blaze finishes him off with massive fire ball attack, sending him down to the ground. Baynair gets back up and stands on two feet. "**Tono** **Giahaji ** ? What are you doing? You're supposed to be helping me!"

"Look at what has come upon us, Baynair" the panther said "Can't you see this is what Dante' wants? To have us fight amongst ourselves? This new order…cobalt order….this is not the criminal way "

"What are you blabbering about?! I'm following orders, unlike you! And if you're going to stand in my way then I have no choice but to whack some sense into you!" the vulture charges at the group with full speed. Sliver jumps on to his back, and holds on to his wings.

"Blaze now!" Shouted Silver Blaze fires a few fireballs at Baynair; he was able to do a flip making the fireballs almost hit Silver, who dodges them just barely. Mercury then jumps on Baynair; locking him in a gravity hold. Ty then jumps at the bird and hits him in the beak. After he fell to the ground, Ty runs up to the vulture again, but then he gets out a long purple scythe with a skull at the end.

"Heh heh! Oh I forgot I had this thing! This is my sacred Jema Bleakumbranior! (Bl-eek-umb-ran-ior). Baynair flies back in the air and swings the scythe at Ty. Ty blocks the counters, but Baynair blocks his attack and counters with another swing of his scythe. Tono jumps up and swings his reaper. Electricity comes out of the reaper and shocks Baynair. Ty sees his chance and swings his axes and hits Baynair in the chest. Silver then holds him with his psychic hold; Blaze throws fire balls at him hitting him in the chest. Baynair falls to the ground after that attack. The others walk up to him laying down. He quickly gets up and brings out his scythe. "Poison air of the underworld: Black Blood storm! " he shouted spinning the scythe unleashing a massive Black and red tornado. The black gust was so string everyone had to cover their eyes. When it was over they looked around for the bird, but Baynair was already gone. "HA HA HA! Till next time my friends! I will bring you to your knees. As for you Giahaji, Dante' will not be pleased once I tell him what's going on! HA HA HA! Farewell! "

Silver looks at the Tono who looks at him. "Thanks!" he said

"Yes thank you!" said Blaze.

"Think nothing of it." Tono said

"Master Giahaji!" Mercury exclaimed while running up to hug him. "it's so good to see you!"

"Little Mercury" Tono hugs

"You know this guy?" Silver asked

"Yes!" said Mercury "He's my and Zenith's mentor. He's also the **Exen of Lightning**!

"WHAT!" everyone exclaimed except Tono and Mercury.

"Correct" said Tono "I am of the Exen twelve just like Baynair.

"But what are you doing here, master?" Mercury asked

"Yeah and why did you help us?" Ty asked. In less than a minute everyone say robots and chasers come out of nowhere.

"Let's talk later! But rest assured: I am on your side."

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>Don't lick the ice<span>_**

**_ (((((Exen Boss Battle 4; Lymph)))))_**  
><em><span>Good guys: Sonic Rouge, Knuckles, Mist, Scorch<span>_

The chameleon looks at his opponents giggling. "Goodness…look at all of you….*slurp* so tasty…"

"I'm not afraid of someone like that!" said Rouge running to help knuckles.

"Here I come!" said the light blue hedgehog Mist "I'll freeze this l-lizard!"

"Bring it on…Navies…" Rouge started kicking Lymph, but he dodged every last blow quickly. " Oh please. Is that all you got woman?!" Mist then came trying to freeze the lizard. Lymph jumped into the air and dodged the blow but Sonic knocked him to the ground. Sonic gets up and does a spin dash at Lymph. Lymph gets knocked down, and Sonic does a homing attack at him while the lizard was on the ground. Lymph quickly gets back up and draws out two gems. They both change into Cyan Tridents that were about two feet long. "Say hello to my Sacred Jema: Raaquaior! (R-A-aquin-eor) ! Try saying that three times fast! Now, I'll stick you and serve you up!" He exclaimed while licking his lips. He then attempted to impale those around him. Mist froze the ground around Lymph, and trapped his feet under a sheet of ice. Knuckles and Rouge then run up to Lymph and attack him with punches and kicks. As they were attacking him Lymph smiled at the two. Then out of nowhere they were attacked by a third trident. It tossed them back and threw them to the ground. It was a gold Trident that was being held by Lymph's long sticky chameleon tongue.

"What the-?" Knuckles said quirking his eyebrow

"EWWWWW!" Rouge said covering her mouth

"That ain't right…" Said another Cramoisi Scorch

"He's worse than Limrana*…." Sonic looks in disgust

(Marcoat from a few chapters back)

"Dow yoo shdal fee mue throo powuh!" Lymph said muffled (Translation: Now you shall feel my true power)

"Uhhhhh…" Sonic was scratching his head trying to figure out what he's saying "Say it, don't spray it!"

"Moring moters; mad thorant! (Roaring waters: Mad Torrent) " A massive tidal vortex appeared around the five, and sent them flying in the air. "AQUAH DATH! (Aqua Dash). As the others were hurdling around the vortex. Lymph shot at the others while running them through with his Tridents. When the vortex disappeared they all fell to the ground. Sonic was struggling to get up. Lymph walked over to sonic and pinned him down on the ground with his foot. He grabs his third Trident in his Tail. "Stho mach fouh thla fath-esch thiung alivuh! (So much for the fastest thing alive)"

Lymph was over Sonic ready to stick him with his trident. Sonic then things back to when he received the greave a while back. He realized he had put it on right before the battle. Sonic quickly gets up and lifts his foot. "Kick Whirlwind!" Sonic stands on his hand and swings his foot at Lymph creating a small blast of wind blowing him way. "Whoa!" he looks the greave on his leg; it was glowing bright green with a small twister blowing around it.

_"Grieving bellows….."_ Sonic heard a light whisper in the wind.

"So that is what this is called. Alright" Sonic then dashes at the lizard

"WHAA!" Lymph was in the air seeing Sonic come at him. As Lymph was too helpless to move due to the strong winds, Sonic starts attacking him with punches and kicks.

He spins into a ball and spins in the air creating a tornado, launching Lymph higher in the air. "Don't count me out just yet. Sonic wind" Sonic spins into a ball and spins around Lymph creating a blue tornado, and hitting him with a series of homing attacks, while containing him in the tornado. When the tornado stops Lymph falls on the ground with Sonic flying over him. "Had enough lizard boy?"

"He looks at Sonic with a blood crazed stare and spits out the golden trident. "Not yet, my dear hedgeie?! I was hoping you'd do this!" Lymph sticks out his tongue and wraps sonic around it.

"EWWW! What are you-?!" Sonic was struggling to break free. Lymph pointed his Jema trident at Sonic.

"Maybuh dow youll geck muh poniinck (maybe now you will get my point) " he said. As Lymph was about to attack he felt his tongue get cold all of a sudden. Sonic saw Mist the hedgehog behind him freezing Lymph's tongue. GGAAAAHHHHHH! WHA A OU GOOING?!

"Hang on big bro!" She said

"NO! Muh Tugg! MUH BEAUTEFUL TUGGG!(My tongue my beautiful tongue) " Lymph's mouth was frozen along with his tongue that was still rapped around Sonic. he saw an arrow shoot right between his mouth and Sonic. The arrow cut through Lymph's tongue. " WWAAAHHHHH!"

"Bull's eye!" said a voice not too far from the group. Sonic saw a yellow cheetah wearing a green blouse and green pants. She then walks over to Sonic and gets out a small pick and breaks him free. "Are you alright, mister?"

"Yeah thanks!"

"YOU FOOLS!" Lymph screamed lisping "I'll eat you all!"

"Yeah…..no" said the cheetah looking at him. "Thanks for the help junior" she said to Mist  
>"Thank you for helping my brother" said Mist bowing<p>

"Let's finish this Lump!" said Sonic

"Iiiit's Lymph (lim-ff) !" he said shaking his fist. Lymph used his tridents to start a whirlpool from the ground. It began to sweep everything in its path. Mist started to freeze the water around him. The whirlpool was frozen everywhere around Lymph. Sonic jumps on top of the frozen Whirlpool and does a homing attack on him. Lymph blocks it with his tridents. "GRRR! I won't let you beat me! Exploding shabon: SPLASH BOMB!" Water balls appeared all around the two and launched at Sonic. Sonic jumps in the air, and stirs up the wind blowing the water balls away. The cheetah jumps over the frozen whirlpool and fires an arrow at Lymph, that was defeated by Lymph's tridents. Knuckles comes running at Lymph at full speed, and starts throwing punches. Lymph blocked every blow, but knuckles kept attacking, until he finally lands a blow, knocking the chameleon out of balance. Sonic does another homing attack knocking Lymph down to the ground. When Lymph tries to get back up, Knuckles threw another punch, hard in the face. He continues to punch him in multiple of spots. Lymph tries to get out his trident, and run through Knuckles, but it was shot right out of his hand, by the cheetah.

"Now what was that thing you said about having us for lunch?" asked the cheetah smiling

Lymph looks at the cheetah and gives her a gurgling growl. He then tries to get his trident but Sonic steps his foot on the trident before he has a chance to get it. "It's over, Lymph. Sorry to leave you out in the wet rain."

"Humph hmm hmmm hmm"

Sonic quirks his brow. "What's so funny?"

"You naïve little rodent. I got to say, you did put up a good fight, but…(Dark chuckle)" Lymph looked at this trident sink into the ground. Sonic looked under his foot and saw that the trident was gone. Sonic looked back at Lymph, and was shocked to see the trident back in his hand. "I know just who you are, Sonic the hedgehog. You're the fastest thing alive, but can't, even set foot in a swimming pool. I am a master user of water. Water: you're Achilles Heel if I remember correctly, you can't even swim. (Laughs) I've seen kindergarteners swim better and faster than you ever could! I know because I trained them myself."

Sonic gritted his teeth while Lymph was laughing loudly. Sonic then ran up to him to tires and hit him, but he saw his hand run right through him. "What?!" Sonic saw where his hand was. He saw water appear around his hand where he landed a punch. It was as if Lymph's body was made of water.

"As I said, if you can't even swim, what chance do you have against me?" His body began to sink into the ground in a pool of water. "You Cramoisi are not worth my time. Farewell, Sonic the hedgehog" Were his last words before disappearing in the pool. Sonic knelt down, and slammed his fist on the ground. The cheetah walked up to him looking at the place where Lymph stood.

"Sigh* Well we did the best we could, Blue" she said. Knuckles was helping Rouge up. Mist and Scorch walked up to the cheetah. Sonic stood back up looking down, and then lifted his head and looked at the cheetah.

"Umm, thank you for helping us." He said with a smile trying to pull it together.

"Yes!" said Mist "T-thank you s-so much, but…W-who are you?"

"I'm a Ginn Criminal lord, my name is **Sheila** the cheetah"

"WHAT?!" said everyone.

"What? Did you think only guys could be Criminal lords?" the cheetah winks at the group and looks at Sonic I've been looking for you, Sonic the hedgehog."

Sonic tilted his head. "Why are you looking for me, and aren't you supposed to be helping him, not fighting him?"

"I have my reasons" said the Sheila. "The fact is my objective is complete, and the Exen is gone."

"So are you on our side?" asked Scorch.

"Well that all depends on your point of view and what the **Exen of Light** says"

"**Exen of Light**?" Knuckles asked.

"You guys asked a lot of questions, for someone who just helped you out." Everyone saw Chasers and robots appear around the frozen area. Sonic got out the white jema and changed it into a sword. "It looks like now isn't the time for explaining" said Sheila getting out her bow and arrow and pointing it at the enemies around them.

"Rouge, take Mist and Scorch and go help the others" Sonic ordered

"Are you crazy?" She asked

"If anything a happens to you, Shadow will kill me. Just go. Knuckles, help then escape"

Knuckles materializes his Jema that turns into a pair of his namesakes made of brass. He then slams on the ground causing the entire frozen whirlpool to shatter, making a clearing. Rouge and the others run to the clearing and out onto the rest of the field. Though the frozen whirlpool had been broken some of the agents managed to survive and went after the three. Stella shoots the ground with her bow and arrow. The agents then felt vines and plants coil around them, trapping them in their tracks.

"That should make this easy" she said

"Whoa...are you sure you're not an Exen?" Sonic asked

"Ask me later...when the agents aren't trying to escape!" Stella looks at the agents slowly wigging free.

"Oh..Sonic jumps down and spins his feet making another whirlwind blowing the agents away. Knuckles then finishes them off, by bringing rocks from the ground into the air and slamming them on the agents crushing them.

"Come on! Let's go! There's still more to come" Stella runs off back into the battle field

"I'll follow her, go find the others and see if they need help" Knuckles said

"Sure thing" Sonic and Knuckles dash off.

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>Wolf's hunt<span>_**

Nero was sitting on the skyscraper with his legs crossed, and eyes closed. "A lot of screaming and fighting going on down there" he looks up and catches a whiff of something familiar. "I smell blood…lots of it…what is that idiot wolf up to?" He opens his eyes and looks around. He gets up and looks at the battlefield. "Where is Kaiser? He should have been back now." Nero jumps down from rooftop to rooftop. He then sees Clangen running in his normal form. "Well, well look here…"

Clangen was running away from the others. "I have to….contact Algidius! Before its… huh?" Clangen saw a figure right in front of him. It was Nero staring at the howler monkey with a blank stare. "Nero" the monkey started. "What are you doing? Lord Dante' has ordered a retreat. Let's beat it before…." He then looks around, and sees some Cramoisi coming at them both.

"that's the Exen that attack big brother!" said Zilli who was among them.

"Let's get him!" said Milli. The Cramoisi were slowly walking over to the two

"Damn! Why now?!"Clangen gets out his cymbals and places a blue nth metal stone in one of them, and slams them together, making a large sound wave and made the Cramoisi fall to the ground groaning in pain. Nero looked at all the Cramoisi struggle, in pain. He then saw Milli and Zilli on the ground groaning in pain behind him.

"Ahh! Why does my body hurt?" Milli asked groaning in pain.

"Milli! *grunt* hang in there!" Zilli said struggling to get up

"HA HA! Look at them squirm! The freaks! Now let's finish them off, and get the hell out of here!" Clangen looked at Nero while he drew his sword. Zilli was growling in both pain and anger.

"After everything we did…..to escape from danger….we dove right into it. I'm sorry, Milli" said Zilli looking at her sister who had her eyes closed.

"Save your breath you pointy eared, winged freak!" Clangen insulted. "Show them how it's done Nero, and let's-"

"Shut your mouth, you damn dirty ape." Nero said looking down

Clangen widen his eyes after hearing that. "You…You're talking to me that way? We are of the same rank! And FYI, I'm a monkey not an ape. There's a difference! How dare you… " Clangen was cut off after seeing Nero's sword up against his face. In shock, Clangen knelt down and looked up to Nero who was giving him that same blank stare. Wha….What are you…..?"

"You know…second to Kaiser, you of all people irritate me the most. You always jump at people before you even know what you're up against."

"You backstabbing…!" Nero moved his sword closed to Clangen's face.

"Utter even one syllable and I'll cut your face off and shove this blade down your throat." ZIlli was looking at Nero, as she was slowly crawling over to him. Clangen was sitting there scared out of his mind, and absolutely clueless on what to do. All he could do was look at Nero's blade. He did not want to take the risk of going up against a fighter of strong caliber. It wasn't long before Zilli reached the edge of Nero's trench coat. She grabs on and tugs it a little. Nero looks down and sees Zilli trying to get up. She was just barley stumbling as she looks at Nero.

"My…sis….please…..she needs food…" Nero looks at all the Cramoisi slowly struggle to get up. He then looks back at Clangen who was staring at him in anger. Nero then turns and walks away looking at all the Cramoisi come at him.

"W-Wait! You'd just leave me here?! We're on the same side!" Clangen shouted.

He then saw Nero turn back to him, making signs of letters in the air. (Japanese to be exact) Clangen then sees the sword disappear, and feels his wounds heal instantly. Nero then turns around and starts to walk away.

"There…that should do it" he said Clangen tries to move but his body was immobilized.

"Wha…What did you do to me?!" Clangen shouted

"I used a special healing technique, which restores you every time you are on the verge of death. I would say a ten twenty maybe thirty times should be more than enough to feed the Cramoisi. Have fun." Nero said walking away from him. Clangen stared at Nero and looked at the Cramoisi come up to him growling and snarling.

"NO! NERO! GET BACK HERE! NO NOOO!" he shouted as all the Cramoisi gather around him gnawing on his flesh, except Zilli, who looks at Nero walk away.

Zilli looks back at Nero with a shocked expression. "Why did he…?"

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>Enter the Exen of Light<span>_**

Darcy was still trying to bring down Klaus. Zerach was cutting in trying to fight alongside his lover but Klaus was constantly pushing him out of the battle. The other Cramoisi come at Klaus to try and stop Klaus.

"Hang on mother!" said Tawny. The small group of Cramoisi was running over to help Darcy. She runs over and knocks Klaus down. Joaquin uses his lighting to shoot Klaus. Ester uses her knives and throws them at him, stabbing him.

"UPSTARTS! You'll pay for that! DEARLY!" Klaus runs through the Cramoisi swinging his swords cutting them at random spots. The Cramoisi all Knelt down in pain, bleeding.

"Joaquin!" shouted the Raccoon running over.

Elena! Get back!" shouted the Joaquin, but Klaus swiped his blade on her lower belly bringing her down. "NOO!" The Raccoon was laying on the ground panting.

"Tawny" Zeke said weakly on the ground bleeding "I'm sorry"

"Stop….apologizing" Tawny said weakly.

"Ohhh! It hurts so much!" shouted the pink haired one Meliko.

"Man this sucks!" said Troy with his eyes closed.

"Hang..On….everyone!" said Daniel trying to get up, and starts making hand signs in the air. "Grand…healer" he said as the area around them started to glow white around them. He then grunted in pain and fell to the ground. "That…should do it….Mother….forgive us."

"You really think, you can just come in and fight me?! "Klaus said kicking Daniel. " YOU, who are nothing more but inexperienced learners?! I am a master of FIVE different elements, and master of swordsmanship! You're suffering has only begun, Cramoisi filth! Now feel the pain of those Cramoisi fools who opposed me years ago! " Klaus said about to slay Daniel.

"NO!" Darcy screamed coming at Klaus with full speed.

Klaus lunges at Darcy; Darcy was able to dodge but just barely gets cut by Klaus' sword in the arm. Klaus then cuts Darcy on the right shoulder. Darcy kneels down in pain, as the cut from the nth metal blade. "It's over Darcy. You've lost you and your children."

"Not..yet…." Darcy lifts her head. Her eyes sclera changed to black with her iris glowing bright purple. Her blood then comes to life and grabs Klaus' neck. "**You will not destroy my children a second time!" HAHHHHHH!" **A massive blood shadow comes out of Darcy's body and then forms into a massive wolf-like beast. It was glowing purple with red eyes and a hook like tail. It then slams it's claw on Klaus growling. "**This is where….it all ends!" **

"Darcy! Stop this now!" Zerach shouted. The recognition of Zerach's voice made Darcy gasp. She turns around and faces him. "Stop this, Darcy." He spoke softly

"He….he…killed them…..in cold blood, Zerach….." Darcy said

"I know…but you can't let the blood Shadow kill him. You know what will happen if it drinks his blood. Please Darcy….don't do it….." Darcy growls while lowering her head. The blood shadow then dissolves and retreats into her body. Darcy looks at Zerach with tear filled eyes. Zerach comes over and hugs her. "I know…..it's overbearing... you miss them…it will be alright….we can still save the children now…it won't be like before…I promise…."

"You miss your family so much, Darcy" Klaus stood up and took out his sword. "but there is no need to be sad, I will make sure you and your new family, are acquainted with your kin in hell!"

"HEY! Twinkle toes!" Klaus look around and saw Nai behind him with his arm raised. "Look up." Klaus looks up and sees a large green mallet above him. Nai whacks him and in to a nearby building. "HA HA! Home run!"

Jem walks over to Darcy. "Are you alright, Madame?" Jem asked looking at her. Her mouth was opened wide as she gazed upon Darcy's gothic attire and her tears sparkling on her face, and her wings slumped down.

"Yes..thank you child." Darcy then looks at Jem who was marveling at her. "Child? Are_ you_ well?"

"Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! You… You look…. Oh, you're even more beautiful up close! "

"Umm….thank you.." Darcy just smiles at the Jem despite the fact she was tearing.

"Is this really the time sis?!" Nai Said looking at Klaus slowly getting up.

"Look at those wings, those dark clothes and those pearly white fangs! I can't wait to be like you! I so promise I won't disappoint you Ma'am!

"You meddlesome Imbecile!" Klaus screamed "I'll cut you to ribbons!" Klaus charged at Nai with full speed. Nai stretches out his arms and grabs Klaus with his gorilla-like hands.

"Pretty big talk from such a little man!" Nai laughed at the angry shrew struggling to break free

"Wait, son! Don't underestimate him!" Darcy warned

"She's right boy!" Klaus said "Play with fire and I assure you, you will be burned!" Nai hands began to catch on fire.

"Ahhh! Hot! Hot! Hot!" Nai loosened his grip on Klaus, letting him escape. When Klaus was freed, he grabs Nai with his gravity hold by the neck and chuckles as he say Nai gasping for breath.

"Leave my brother alone!" shouted Jem, getting out her pistols and shooting Klaus in the arm. Jem fires again at his other arm. Klaus lets go of Nai who gets up and starts gasping for air.

"Dang! And I thought Dwayne was a grouch!" Nai gasped "A little sooner would have been nice sis!"

"You're welcome" Jem said rolling her eyes at her brother's arrogance.

Klaus slowly gets up, with his swords in hand. Zerach then shows up in front of him, and lunges at Klaus. Darcy also joins in, despite the fact that only one of her arms was injured. It was hard for Klaus to fight right due to his singed arms, form Jem's pistols. Zerach could see a window of opportunity; Klaus' skill was slipping. He pushes Klaus out of balance with his sword, and manages to quickly cut one of his hands. As Klaus steps back in pain Darcy then cuts his other hand; Klaus then kneels down in screaming in pain.

"Feel the pain that my children feel, Klaus. Not just these children but for all my children you've slain in ice cold blood!"

"Damn you Darcy! DAMN YOU! Klaus Screamed "I'll drag you down to hell with them! I swear it!"

"Now, Klaus, enough of this, you've lost" said Zerach "You have no choice but to surrender. Yield now, and I shall spear you.

"I'd rather die, than suffer at the hands of defeat from my lesser brother!" Klaus screamed once more as he was lying in a small pool of his blood.

"Lesser? That is an understatement!" Algidius said jumping down in front of Klaus. "Just when I thought I met someone as good as me, he falls to the hands of you impure mongrels! It is you who is going to surrender, you vampire mongrels!"

Jem and Nai run at Algidius, but he attacks them both with his lance, swinging it causing then to be blown down. Nai gets up and tries to attack but then his body starts to freeze up. "Don't bother, Robian mongrel. My ice is now freezing your inner bio-mechanical joints, you can break free!"

"NO!" Nai said struggling and shivering

"I'm sorry Madame we tried" Jem said as her body was also freezing up.

"But not hard enough I'm afraid" The four saw a hovering white hover car shaped like an Egg hovering over to them.

"Dr. Eggman Nega" Jem looks in fear at the doctor.

"It's been a while my dear twins." The doctor said.

"You're late Doctor!" Klaus said "Because of your tardiness, look at what the Cramoisi have done to me!"

"Oh yes, I'm sorry about that. Not to worry" Nega pressed a button on his console, two large hovering disk came at Klaus. Klaus gets up and walks on one disk while the other one hovers over him, trapping him in a glass pod. "Now we don't want you to get finished off by those two, do we?" Eggman looks at Darcy and Zerach, smiling. "Cutting of your brother's hands? Are you sure we're on the opposite sides?"

"What are you doing!?" shouted Zerach

"What is the meaning of this..doc….tor…." Smoke comes seeping out from in the pod that knocks him out.

"Oh, I have a debt to Klaus, and I can't pay the debt with him dead, Can I? So I'm going to make sure he stays alive of now. TTFN! Till next time suckers!" Nega hovered over to his flagship, making his getaway. Darcy tried to chase after him, a sheet of ice starts to cover her leg, bring her down to the ground.

"No, No, No, No, No" Algidius said waving his finger manipulating ice. "He needs to be alive to kill you pesky vermin."

"Darcy!" Zerach tried to help her, Darcy's eyes were half open. "Darcy, my love, please try to hold on!"

"I'm sorry, my daring prince" she gasped "I'm very weak. Klaus was…UHHH!" Darcy was on the ground struggling to get up panting out of pain, holding; her arm that was gashing purple blood

Algidius looks down at the two lovers, with his lance pointed at them. "You're team has fallen, your comrades have fallen, and you two are now going to die at the hands of true beauty."

"I will fight to my last breath…." Zerach picks up his sword and gets ready to strike, but he gasped out of surprise.

Algidius then felt something on his back. It felt cold and like iron. He turned around and saw someone pointing a gun him. "What?!" He was a brown bobcat, wearing a white trench coat with red pants and a black cowboy hat on top.

"Salutations and good day to you, my old appendence." He spoke in a British accent.

"Y-You! Why?" the bobcat then withdraws the gun and draws out a single edge sword, and starts to fight Algidius. The two attacked each other with evenly matched blows. Algidius was trying to jab through the bobcat but was dodging every blow. He then draws out his gun and shoots Algidius in the leg. He then lunges his sword at Algidius, and stabs him in the lowest side part of his body, near the stomach. Causing him to kneel in pain "You traitor! How dare you attack me, Exen?! "

"Exen?" Zerach asked the bobcat. He then walks over to Zerach, with a smile.

"Ah, the great fangs of Dark Radiance! So this is who Chrome spoke so highly of. Allow me to introduce myself**. I am Reginald "Jaygar" (jay-gr) Newton III, Exen of light** at your service. " said the bobcat taking off his hat and bowing his head.

"Excuse me?" Zerach asked "But you're one of the Exen. Forgive me for asking, but why are you assisting us?"

"I'll explain later, my good man, but right now it looks like your spouse is injured. My subordinates will take her and your kin to safety." Zerach then heard a loud boom come from behind. He and Darcy saw a black and white panda with black pants and wearing two brown bullet straps on his chest. He then saw a big rat with short black pants and a white vest" **Hei Kuai**, **Borrsin**, take the queen and the subjects back to the Terra sunset.** Lindsey** will be waiting for you."

"Yes captain!" said the panda breaking the ice, and picking up Darcy. Darcy looked at the panda chewing on some bamboo sticking out of his mouth, with her eyes squinting. She then slowly closes them losing consciousness.

"Aye-Aye!" said the large rat picking up all the Cramoisi at once. He was a large rat and was strong enough to pick up seven of the Cramoisi, while a few smaller members picked up the others.

Zerach walked over to Nai. He touches the ice and the ice started to melt. "Are you alright, son?"

"Yeah…thanks.." said Nai getting up and shivering. Zerach dose the same thing with Jem. Jem slowly gets up with the ice slowly turning to water.

"Thanks!" she said looking at Zerach. "But…I feel weak…and dreary…maybe you could….bite my neck and turn me into a Cramoisi to make me feel better?"

Zerach chuckles while patting her on the head. "I always look forward to new ones wanting to join our ranks, but right now we have other matters to attend to." He then turns back to the bobcat. "Thank you, Mr. Reginald. On behalf of my entire clan"

"Please, Jaygar is just fine. Now let's take care of this.." Jaygar looked over to where Algidius was but saw no trace of him.

"What?! He escaped?!" Jem said gasping "AHH! That wuss!

"*Sigh* Well as long as your people and the dusk raiders are safe. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got other matters to attend to." Jaygar ran over to where the others were fighting.

"So what do we do, now?" Jem asked

"If this Jaygar is truthful about his intentions, then it's best that we retreat for now. We are surrounded by creatures that can kill my people and you. I will fly around and gather the dusk raiders and my children. Can I trust you to do the same?"

Jem gasped as her cheeks went red. "You can count on me, your highness!" Jem spreads her wings and flies over the battlefield.

Zerach smiled and chuckled. "Such a brave little girl. Maybe she will be a fine Cramoisi one day"

**_Note: this battle is happening a little after the other five battles. That's right, i said five. If you want to look at the fifth battle please read Chapter 16-17 of Orange Dawn. _**

* * *

><p><em><strong>(((Exen Boss Fight 6; Renton))))<strong>_  
><span>*good guys Richter Onyx<span>

The two echindas were battling it out. Renton looked at Richter grinning. He then pulls out his finger, and then a green sword appears right in front of his finger.

"You remember my Jema ,Vaporveneor Right?" the black echidna asked.

"You mean the Jema you, stole!?" Richter accused

"Touchy touchy" He then points out his other fingers, and four more swords appear in front of them. He then runs at Richter at full speed. Richter brings out his hammer but is knocked down by Renton.

"I didn't come here to be beaten up by you or your gang." Richter said

"Is that supposed to mean anything? Enough talk, let's settle this Richter!"

"Cutting gale force winds; Sheading maelstrom!" shouted Renton swinging his blades making a huge wind blowing at Richter.

"Chaos Guardian!" Shouted Richter making a large green shield around himself.

"Is wind stronger then Earth!? Let's find out!" Renton Shouted.

Renton materializes more swords around him and throws his swords at Richter. Richter blocks the attacks with a large rock wall. He then throws rocks form the rock wall at Renton but he avoids every last one. Renton flies at Richter with full speed. Richter comes out of the rock wall and charges back at Renton. "jeh jeh earth ROCKET!" Shouted Richter as his body was glowing yellow with his hammers spinning around him with a smaller rocks flowing around him.

"Gale force turbulence!" Shouted Renton as his swords flew around him making a large gust of wind. Both of them collide in a massive windy and rocky tornado. They stare at each other with Renton smirking at Richter who was gritting his teeth. Soon there came a massive explosion. Both of them jumped back and faced at each other.

"Renton! Stop this! This isn't getting us anywhere!" Richter said

"Is the great Trembulant Solairte begging for mercy? And here I thought you'd be a challenge. Come on!" Renton said moving his hand along with his swords up in the air and swinging it down. Richter blocks them with Graniterrior, and gets back up. Richter and Renton are face to face with this fight. Richter slams his hammer at Renton, and knocks him down. Renton then vanishes and reappears behind Richter, swings his sword down ward, and hits him. Renton spins around and attacks him again and again. He spins and attacks Richter from different angles until he knocks him down. As Renton walked slowly up to him Richter disappears from his sight, the reappears behind him. Richter tries to punch him, but Renton ducks down and kicks Richter in the gut, and gives him an uppercut to the chin, bringing him back down to the ground.

"What's wrong, cousin, can't keep up?!" Renton gloated.

"Renton…." Richter struggled to say.

Nero sees Richter and walks up to him. Richter looks at him from the ground. "Mind if I cut in?" he asked.

"Hey he's mine! Don't interfere!" Renton said. Nero kept walking up to him. Renton just let him walk up to Richter, keeping an close eye on him.

As Nero was just up to Richter's feet, Onyx comes up and draws his daggers at Nero. He stares at Nero with an angry gaze "I knew there was something off about you!" he said pointing his Daggers at Nero. "Exen or not, come any closer, and I'll make you taste the ground before you even realized what happened!"

"Is that right?" Nero asked. Before Onyx knew it, Nero was already at Richter's side. Nero looks at him with a blank stare. "Get up." he said. Onyx turned over with his eyes widened.

"How did he…?" Onyx was bewildered.

"W-What?" Richter said confused. Nero grabbed his hand and picked him up. "Why are you…"

"Hey Nero, what gives?!" Renton asked

Nero turned and looked at Renton with a cold stare. Soon a few Chasers and agents showed up from behind Renton. Nero looks back at Richter. "This fight, is it that important to you?" He asked

Richter slowly nodded. "I won't stop until Dante' or Solo something or other is taken down. I won't let you or anyone get in my way!"

"Now who said anything about ME getting in your way?" Nero asked

"Huh?" From behind a chaser came up from behind Richter. Next thing he knew, the chaser was split in two. It fell to the ground making it disappear in a cloud of dark smoke. Richter looked around and saw Nero carrying a ruby blade scythe, and turn around to look at him

"OK…now I'm REALLY confused!" Richter said scratching his head.

Nero looks behind him and sees the enemies come at them. His scythe then disappears, "Vanguard" he murmured. Then eight blades appear around him. He then looks at all the severed robot pars around him. He closes his eyes, waves his hands upward and lifts the robot parts into the air. Richter saw all the parts turn into nearly hundreds of knives. All the knives then shot up into the air.

"What the?!" Renton looked confused as Nero was concentrating.

"Gin'iro no ame" he murmured as everyone saw the knives fall from the sky destroying the chasers and stabbing the Blue agents. He then grabs two of eight hovering blades, one normally and one backhand, and disappears in a black flash. Renton saw one of the blue agents getting stabbed by Nero, he then sees another getting stabbed. One by one they all fell in a flash. Nero then reappears in front of Renton and runs his sword through his chest. Nero's eyes widen as he saw his sword go right through Renton, but didn't fell like it did. Renton then smiles at Nero.

"Not bad…. but it will take a lot more than that to kill me!" He said bringing out his sword trying to cut him. Nero dodges it by jumping back. "What's wrong? Didn't anyone tell you, that you can't cut wind? You see… I'm more than a wind user. I'm like the wind, because I AM the wind!" He said using his wind to blow Nero away. Nero crosses his arms, in front of his face, standing his ground. He's body skids all the way back to Richter and Onyx. They both catch him before he hits the ground.

"I can't believe I'm helping you, even after you tried to kill my captain!" said Onyx.

"What, do you want a medal?" Nero asked.

"Nero!" shouted Renton "you know Dante is going to have your head for betraying him?!" Renton then sees Jaygar walking up to the three, along with chasers and blue agents. Jaygar smiles as he looks at Richter.

"You have done well, Nero." He said "Richter, it's been so long"

Richter's eyes widen as he saw the bobcat. "Master…Jaygar?"

"The one and only"

"Good!" said Renton "Nero's gone mad! I could use some backup!"

"You know me to well, Renton" Jaygar said drawing his sword and pistol. Nero walks up to Jaygar with his two swords in hand. He turns over to, Onyx who was staring at him with a dumbfounded stare.

"How good are you with those daggers?" he asked.

"Humph!" Onyx scoffed "Why don't I show you?" He pointed his Dagger at Nero. He then turns around and swings his dagger, killing a chaser that was about to jump him. Onyx and Nero stare at Jaygar, who was staring back at them. The two charge into the crowd of agents and chasers behind Jaygar.

Jaygar turns around and sees Onyx and Nero strike down the enemies behind them. "Are you injured in anyway, Richter?" Jaygar asked helping him stand "My, look at you. You have the splitting image of your father."

"I'm fine, thanks master" said Richter "I see you've…..you're still healthy

"_**What are we fighting for?**_

Sonic was running through the battle field. Everything in the district was nothing but destroyed buildings and ripped up roads. "Man….this place is a wreck!"

"Sonic!" Sonic looks up and sees Tails and Rouge fly down to him.

"Do you know what happened to Mother?" Rouge asked

"I don't know….but I have a feeling we got to find Richter and the others"

"Then follow me" Tails leads Sonic and Rouge to the center of the battle field. There he saw Richter, Onyx, Jaygar and Nero looking at Renton.

"Richter!" Sonic and Tails run up to him and the group. Richter turns around to look at him.

"Sonic….glad to see you're ok" Richter said in a soft tone. "Where's my crew?"

"I don't know….everyone seems to have flown the coop. Maybe for a good reason. But what are you doing with him?" Sonic asked pointing at Nero

"That's what I'd like to know." Richter answered back.

"Jaygar! What are you doing?!" Renton runs up to him "You should be fighting him!"

"Renton, why are you doing this? Because Dante' said so? Is this the rogue echidna that follows his own path?"

"What are you blabbering about old man?!" Renton asked a little ticked off.

"Renton, resign from Dane's rank, leave the mafia"

"What?!" Renton steps back

"Dante's plans will bring this world to hell. This new client Klaus will disrupt everything your family has worked for! If your father was here…."

"Don't say it! You don't know a damn thing about what he would he would have done!"

"Renton, open your eyes! Dante' killed your uncle your aunt…be with your family, join Richter and me….Please"

"You don't understand" Renton said "He died because he was weak! The only way to win is to be stronger! Rizen didn't have what it took to be strong like I do. Dante's the only one who fully understands!"

"RENTON!"

"Silence, old man!" Renton shouted running at Richter swinging his sword, but misses. Richter then launches rocks at Renton. Renton blocks then with a whirlwind and throws them back at him. Richter digs underground and comes back up in Renton's face, and punches him. Renton gets thrown back on the ground. Richter walks up to Renton looking down on him.

"Renton….I know you and I have a bad history…but please think about what Dante' did to my parents…. You're family. Please…join me… come back to your family" Richter pleaded. Renton looks down away from Richter. He then digs out a remote and presses the button. Richter then sees Renton's white and green gear. Renton then jumps in the air and onto the gear. He looks at down at Richter with a serious face. "Renton?"

"Remember this Richter I will take you down one day!" Those were his last words before he shot up into the sky. Richter sees the leftover green jet stream the gear left behind. He closes his eyes and looks down. Jaygar comes up to Richter and places his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm Sorry" he said. "but don't worry…he'll come around"

"Why doesn't he understand?" asked Richter. "That man….wasn't my cousin, at least not the one I know. What happened to him?"

"Humph" Nero was looking up as well where Renton left. "Looks like some real competition. Underground isn't loaded with wimps after all."

Suddenly everyone heard a strange illiterate language.

Mo jfeijo Tosoalot mo

Xo Tosoalot haj vumaco

Xo Tosoalot olohoedo!

"Was that you, Master?" Richter asked

"No" Jaygar said. The two of them heard loud eerie giggling that sent chills up their spine. Nero and Onyx. walked up to the two while looking around.

"Sonic, was that you giggling just now?" Onyx asked

"Giggling? No. where's Dan-uhhh Soligl?" asked Sonic

_"The man you're looking for isn't here anymore, big brothe_r. _They all ran, like the little scared lambs they are.._"

"Huh? Sonic thought looking around. Everyone heard the eerie giggle again. Richter looked in front of him and saw, dark brown cloud appear. The cloud reviled the dark brown Hedgehog. Richter looks at her chest and sees a glowing disk on it. She was also holding a cyan gem in her left hand.

Mo jfeijo Tosoalot mo Xo Tosoalot haj vumaco Xo Tosoalot olohoedo!" the hedgehog said under her breath.

"That disk...a flash walker...is she a Cramoisi too?" Sonic wondered

"Isn't that a…Chaos Emerald?" Tails asked

"Humph-mmm-mmm" she chuckled. "It's pretty isn't it? It's amazing what you can find when looking around a large ship"

"Hey!" Richter shouted "That emerald is mine! How did you get it?!" (Richter has three of the seven chaos Emeralds)

"Your security system needs improvement"

"She's not kidding about that" Rouge said

"How would you know?" Richter asked

"Oh uhh...no reason..." Rouge giggled

(Correction; Richter had FOUR chaos emeralds until Rouge took one, and now since this mystery chick took one now he is down to two. Richter: ALRIGHT WE GET IT!)

"Isn't this a lovely surprise? Seeing all you here and alive, after killing the dark ones" She bows her head in front of everyone. "You truly are strong warriors, I salute you, Richter the Echidna."

"Who are you?" Richter asked "and how do you know me?" The girl keeps her head down and slowly walks over to Richter swaying her arms with every step.

"I am **Soricoh…..the wicked Sepia**….." She declared still walking over to Richter, slowly. "What's the matter? Don't remember me?" She walks all the way up to Richter and looks at him with her head still down. "The empty son; Exrrtich does!"

Richter stepped back a few inches, and looked at her in shock. "You're…lying! I never knew you!"

"Didn't you?" The hedgehog asked. "You say you don't even know who I am?" She asks while putting her finger under her chin and tilting her head. She then looks down shaking in anger. "That makes me sad, so very, very SAD!" She dematerializes the Chaos emerald, and gets out the dark purple Jema, and it turns in to a large purple hammer. What shocked Richter the most was that it looked just like Richter's hammer.

"What the?!" Richter looks at the hammer with wide eyes.

"What did you do with her?" Nero walks in front of Richter holding his sword. "I asked you a question….where is that robian girl?"

"Robian…girl…" Richter felt his heart sink when he heard the silver wolf. He was almost afraid to ask."Alice?" He whispered "Who are you talking about?"

"Don't make me ask again" Nero paid no attention to Richter and starts walking forward. He then steps back when he sees her face in front of his in an instant

"I'm not here for you" she said after disappearing and reappearing in front of Richter slamming her hammer down

Richter counters the attack summoning his smaller hammers to block. "Look! I've had a long and depressing day! And I don't even know you! What did I even do?! " the dark brown hedgehog kept swinging her hammer and Richter kept blocking her attacks. Richter barley attempted to even hit her.

"You know what you did! You let your crew, and my Cramoisi brethren get captured and nearly lose their lives? You don't deserve the name captain?! Now I'm going make you pay!"

((((TBC)))))

I know what your thinking. Wow...just...wow. Confused? Well everything will come clear to you come next chapter when the Megalo Chronicles come to a close, and Sonic and his friends are on the next step of their journey.

But what is in store for your heroes? Who is this new girl who showed up, and why does she hate Richter? And what happened to Alice?

Para saber la próxima vez! Which is Spanish for; FIND OUT NEXT TIME!


	18. Megalo Aftermath

This chapter has info up to wazzo! You might learn something. If it's too long, forgive me. DON"T LEAVE ME! *sniff* you are all I have in the world….

Anyway Enjoy.

_**Chapter 18**_

_**Megalo Aftermath **_

Sonic looks at the small battle in front of him. Both Richter and the mysterious dark brown hedgehog were staring at each other locking weapons.

"There is only one Granterrior…. How did you get your hands on that?!" Richter asked while holding his weapon.

"Isn't it lovely?! I call it Negrograniterrior! (Negro-grani-terr-ior) .Ex'y gave it to me as a present!" Soricoh said.

"No…you're lying!" Richter shouted .

"Sonic!" Ty came running up to the group. "Have any of you seen Alice?"

"No, I thought she was with you" Sonic answered back

"Darn it! We lost each other after I was fighting that buzzard…..Where's Richter?"

Sonic points to him and the Soricoh battling it out.

"You're not fit to lead the dusk raiders. Exrrtich is! If you won't bring him out, I'll make him come out!"

"If you don't stop….there is something else….*hurp* that's going to come out…..and it's not what you want to see…" Richter said nearly gaging "Seriously….*gag*" Richter steps back and holds his and in front of her. "I feel like….I'm going to puke…."

"Seriously?" Soricoh lifts her hammer to look at Richter panting. "I'm about to beat you senseless, and this is how you react?!"

"HEY! You'd be sick too, if you had to fight a crazed demon, an crazy business executive, my crazy cousin and a wolf who can't even so much as speak! Now enough of this! Tell me where is this Robian girl?!"

"I know a lot of Robian girls. There is your problem right there…How you can watch over our Cramoisi Brethren, when you don't even know who your friends and enemies are?!" Soricoh swung her hammer at Richter and knocked him down. He was still feeling weak from the last battles he had. Luck was not on his side

'Cramozon…..brethren? You mean you're…."

"Yes…" Soricoh said "I too am one of them. Before I was one I was so alone…..cold and sad…..then Exrrtich came and saved me, and later I was turned into one. And now I want to find him; I owe him my life!" Soricoh continues hitting Richter's hammer with hers." And you! You had to go and seal him away, from me! I won't take this! I'll crush you till there's nothing left!"

"_Seal him away?"_ Richter asked himself. _"Could she be talking about the time before I was free from Eggman? Just who is this girl?"_

"but…." Soricoh continued "Once I learned from Mother that he was sealed away by you, I figured that all I had to do was make him come out"

"Why….do…you…want him out so badly?" Richter asked while barely fighting back. Soricoh slammed her hammer down with a loud slam bringing Richter down to the ground. Richter tried to get up but was too weak. "Ok…I'm seriously going to hurl….*urp*"

"He can lead the dusk raiders to victory over the dark ones. Richter" Soricoh walks over to Richter and kneels down "…That robian girl….happens to be your daughter…..do you know what happened to her?"

Ty's eyes widen after hearing her. Richter got up quickly and gave her a cold stare. "Alice.." Richter looked around for her daughter but did not see her. He then turned back to Soricoh. "Where is she?"

"You didn't look after her in her hour of need. You were too busy with your silly little fights" Soricoh steps back while walking around in front of him twirling her hammer. "Not knowing if she was battling for her life, which she was. A normal Cramoisi would have felt that she was in danger, but you didn't. Why would you be asking me if you did? Her boyfriend didn't even know either" Soricoh was pointing at Ty who was gritting his teeth in anger. "Both of you are completely worthless."

"You're not listening!" Richter saw Soricoh give him a grin and a light chuckle. "I SAID, WHERE IS SHE?!" Richter shouted throwing his hammer down. He runs over to Soricoh and, but she disappears and reappears behind him. He looks back at her and tries to grab her, but she then starts to float in the air. "If…you've done anything to her, so help me….!"

"Now, Now…." The brown hedgehog spoke in a negligent tone. " didn't you promise you're lover not to get too angry? "Oh but, wait! Maybe Ex will come back to me if I get you mad enough! YEAH! Once you get mad Ex'y will come out and everyone will be saved! But it may break your lover's heart… Oh well! Them's the breaks! But I'm sure your daughter will be happy to see you the way you are, where she is now."

"Damnit!" said Ty stomping his feet. "Tell me where she is now!"

Richter's eyes widened, his teeth gritted and his fist clenched, trying to suppress his rage. He then got on his hands and knees and slammed his fist on the ground. "Please…" he said calmly still kneeling down "Tell me….what happened to her?" Soricoh scoffed at him.

"Richter!" She then saw Jet, wave and Storm; show up carrying Alice over to Richter. "Richter!" Richter turns his head over to Jet. Jet gives Storm a sign to put Alice down. Richter and Ty run over to her. She was still in her gearterriean form, with cuts and bruises everywhere on her body, with dents on the metal parts with her eyes closed.

"Alice?" She didn't respond; she laid there not moving or uttering a sound.

Ty started to shake her body slowly. "Alice, say something! ALICE!" she was still not moving. "Alice Please….." Ty bowed his head waiting for her to even say one word.

"Alice…" Richter said. He opens up a small data gauntlet on her arm to see her stats; all of the lights on the gauntlet were off Richter felt his heart sink. Without the lights on her arm being on he could not tell if what was wrong with her. He felt as if the worse had come to past; he looks at Ty giving him a certain look. Ty understood what that meant, unfortunately. Tears came down his face; all he did was lain his head on Alice chest, quietly sobbing.

"What did you do to her?" Richter heard Nero ask. He turns around and sees him materialize another sowrd. "I asked you a question"

"Me?! How rude! I did nothing. I simply granted her wish in her dying words. Sadly, she wasn't strong enough to stand up against the dark ones" Soricoh said still flying over. "It was her brother that did this to her. Her brother who's heart is consumed by the dark. Do you see Richter? This is the result of what happens, when the dark ones find you. Your crew mates will suffer the same pain she endured. You didn't even know she was in danger. A shame really.

"No…." Richter felt like expressing his rage, but the sight of Alice in her condition was too overwhelming. He was still looking at Alice waiting for a response, movement, anything that would give him a sign of life. He bows his head, and leans over to Alice's forehead rubbing it and kissing it.

"Keep this in mind Richter." A flash of dark orange then wraps around Soricoh "If you want to save your friends. You must let out Exrrtich. Only he can be the one to save them" Soricoh then vanished in a flash of light. Richter's head was still over Alice. A few tears whet down his cheek.

Nero growled after seeing her escape.

Jet comes over and pats his back. "I'm sorry Richter…" he said

"Richter….I…." Sonic couldn't find the right words

"I…I did this…." Richter said in a soft tone "I'm so sorry… Alice."

"Why….?! Ty gets up and turns away from her "Damnit! Why did this have to happen?!" More tears ran down his cheeks.

"She's just….a child…" Richter said with tears in his eyes "….why would the vessels come after her?! It's not fair!" Richter puts his arm on his face.

"Richter…" Jaygar was looking over him. Nero just turns his head away from the others. Rogue was quietly crying doing her best to make sure no one saw her.

Richter and Ty were both sobbing quietly with his head over Alice's head.

"Listen Richter…" Sonic walks up to him. "You know you can still…"

"I can't do it" he said with his voice breaking. "I don't want her to suffer anymore….it's too much….I already told you she's been through hell!"

"Richter please!" Ty begged with his voice cracking as well. "You could save her! Please…." Ty looks down "she was so upset after you didn't want to bite her after you changed….She felt like…she was losing you….I know It sounds selfish, but please….she's just a little girl….she doesn't deserve to die….please…"

Nero and Jaygar just stood there watching.

Richter looks at Ty with his head lowered. He then turns to Sonic who gives him a nod. "It will be alright, Richter…Trust me…"

Richter closes his eyes and looks down and sighs while looking at Alice's shoulder that was showing flesh. He then turns the dial on his metal brace 45 degrees. Despite of not fully knowing what it will do. He did have a feeling of what would happen. In an instant his body starts to shake; his eyes started to glow bright and his fangs got sharper. He then looks back down at Alice's soft shoulder and lowers his head with his eyes closed. He was about to open his mouth when suddenly he then felt a cold touch his face. He slowly opens his eyes, and saw a metal hand touching his face. His eyes opened all the way as he saw who the hand belonged to. He looked at Alice's face; her eyes were half opened looking a Richter.

"Daddy….why are you crying?" Alice asked. "Did Renton beat you in the fight?"

Richter eyes widen in disbelief. Ty saw Alice's blue eyes glowing again, and couldn't help but stare. Richter then smiled after hearing Alice's voice, and wiped his tears away. "Yeah….I lost but I'll get him next time" Richter hugged her like he hadn't hugged her in years.

"You're lying…." Alice said in a sad tone "It was me wasn't it? You thought I was gone, didn't you?"

"ALICE!" Ty said hugging her too. "Yes, I thought you were...you were…" Ty couldn't even finish his sentence.

"Wait…." Alice pulls away from the two and sees Richter's glowing eyes and fangs. "You were going to bite me…weren't you?"

Richter then blushed and looked down. "Well…uhhh…I…..heh heh…"

"Daddy, have you forgotten?" Alice slowly gets up and looks down at Richter; she then kneels down and hugs him back. "Your love is all I need to survive" Richter was still embracing Alice. "You…really were that worried about me?" 

"Alice…." Richter hugs her back and his voice breaks up again "Yes….I thought I lost you. I was so scared. I should have been there for you. I'll make sure you're never fighting alone again."

"I'm so Sorry Alice! I should have followed you after you faced against GronMin!" Ty said still sobbing and hugging her.

"I'm never alone….as long as you're with me" Alice said with some tears coming down her face too. "But, maybe if I had waited a few more seconds to wake up….I could have been a Cramoisi…" the three chuckled a little while they were still hugging. Rouge was looking at the three with tears still welling up in her face. "Oh daddy" Alice was saying as she was hugging Richter tight "My daddy!"

"Alice?" Richter said gasping "Not breathing! Need air! "

"Oh!" Alice quickly lets go of Richter. Ty wiped his face and laughed a little.

"Oh man…oh man….." Richter stumbles a bit while walking away from Alice.

"Daddy?" Alice looks at him worried

Nero looked at the two from a distance. Jaygar was standing right next to him. "I'm not exactly sure what's going on here, but it's very sweet." said Jaygar.

"Hmmm, so this is the echidna who you wanted to recruit, he's the son of Rizen. He truly is different from the other Criminal lords." Nero said "To think, a Mobian would even care so much for a human that would even call him his daughter.

"He and Chrome are more than just our captains." Onyx said "They are our family."

"I think Richter is really starting to grow up" Sonic said

"BBLEEEHHHHH!" Sonic and others hear the sound of someone vomiting making then groan in disgust.

Sonic narrows his eyes "Or maybe not…."

"He wasn't kidding about being sick…" Rouge said covering her eyes

" Note; Never get ice cream…..*groan* from a robian city…" Richter said wiping his mouth. He then turns and looks at Nero and Jaygar "When I wake up, I have some questions for the two of you."

Nero tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean 'when you wake up?" Richter lets out a light gasp, his eyes iris then become empty, and then falls back on the ground, flat on his back.

"RICHTER!" Sonic shouted running over to him.

"The poor boy must be exhausted" said Jaygar

"What was your first clue?" Nero said crossing his arms. Storm walks over and picks him up, and throws him on his back.

"Thank you, Storm" said Jaygar "All of you let's get back to the Terra sunset's infirmary. We have much to discuss. But first, we need to take Richter and Alice to the infirmary at once" Jaygar instructed.

"I've got this" Ty then picks her up Bridal style.

"Whoa! Strong bot!" said Alice. Ty blushed a little.

As they were all walking back to the Starlight building, Soricoh was looking from a distance. Behind her came a light yellow hedgehog. She wore a blue shirt, mini skirt and sandals. Next to her was a dark tan wolverine "Did everything as we planned, sister?"

"YES!" She said with gusto. "Even though Alice came back, there is no turning back for the Dusk Raiders! Soon one by one they will fall into my grasp. Today was a good day.

"Well done sister, but when are we to call the others?"

"All in due time…dear sister. I think tonight I feel like…going on a hunt…Ho ho…."

_**Aftermath **_

Everyone got back to the terra sunset. Lila, Rocky and Cream were, standing near the ship entrance. Lila and Rocky's eyes widen as she looked at Richter unconscious on Storm's back. She ran over to the group, right over to Sonic. "Richter!"

"It's ok" Sonic said "he's just unconscious."

Lila sighed in relief. "What about Alice?" Lila asked"

"She's right here ma'am" said Groove pointing at Ty carrying Alice.

"Oh thank god!" she said hugging Alice.

"Hi Mommy" She said smiling with her eyes half open.

The group walked over to the ship. Rocky walked right next to Sonic. "We saw a big rat and a panda come in the ship, saying that they knew Chrome." He said

"A big Rat?" Sonic repeated "You can't be serious"

"But it's true!" Cream added "It gets worse. Daniel, Rachel, almost half of our group and even mother are all injured!"

"WHAT?!" Sonic said in disbelief

"It's true" Lila said "Many of the Cramoisi were rushed then inside. A few other people and Robians are looking after them. Some raiders were injured too."

"What about the not so injured ones?" Sonic asked

"They are already inside" Rocky said as they approached the ship. "It's not a pretty sight. Everyone is here though.

_**The undead ward**_

On board the Terra Sunset the others were down in deck two. Sonic stared at all the beds that had ether a Cramoisi or a Raider in them. Richter, who was still unconscious, was lying in a bed next Alice.

Malcolm was lying on a on a metal bed while being watched by another robian with short red hair, wearing a lab coat with a striped shirt and pants, and wearing a pair of goggles on his head. He was replacing Malcolm's broken pants. "Wow! This is almost what happened the first time I was working on ya. Remember Allen?"

"Yes, Doctor…" said another robian with long black hair a white coat black shirt and pants. "Last time you were nothing but a head, and the rest of you we had to find"

"Heh heh!" Malcolm chuckled "I guess I'm not the cyborg I used to be, **Raygen**. Clangen really banged me up good.

"Well luckily he just dented a few parts. I'll fix up your cybernetics and reload your ammunition" Reign said

"Try not to run into anymore mad apes" Allen added

"Thanks, and he was a monkey, there's a difference." Malcolm mentioned

"I'll even…add a few more parts as well…heh heh!" Malcolm looks at him with a sweat drop coming down his face.

"Oh…joy…" Malcolm said rolling his eyes

Mercury was lying next to Zenith while Sliver was looking over them along with a white rabbit wearing a pink shirt with pink pants and black jacket. She was standing between the siblings with her eyes closed. "Grand healer" she said as a large glowing circle appeared below her and hovered over the two slowly healing there wounds. When the circle disappeared she opens her cobalt blue eyes and looks at the two. "That should help, but you still need to where those bandages"

"Thanks" said Mercury getting up "I'm sorry, who did you say you were again?"

"**Fifi**" said the rabbit "A pleasure to meet you Ms. Mercury" the rabbit said as she bowed her head at her.

"Umm, thanks! _So polite_."

Zenith walks over to Silver and gives him a pat on the back. "Nice job handling yourself out there bro, Maybe we truly are related"

"OH ha ha." Silver said sarcastically "Are you alright Mercury?"

"Yes I'm alright" Mercury came over and hugged her younger brother.

"That was a close one" said Blaze. "I thought we were goners

"I'll go attend to the others. Please excuse me" Fifi said as she walked away. Zenith was looking at her walk away.

"She a cute tyke, ain't she?" he said smiling

"Don't even think about it" said Mercury "She's too young for you."

"I know I know" Zenith said

"She's very polite." Silver mentioned

"Kind of like Cream" said Blaze

"Two more?" asked a Robian coming up to Sonic and the others. She was a dark skinned girl, with blue hair. Wearing a white coat, a red tank top and black pants, and wore glasses. Like Alice she also had a tail coming out of her back.

"Yes" said Jaygar standing over Richter. "These two have endured severe pain."

"Alright…. let's see what we got here" she said as she walks up to Richter, gets out a small device that lets out a green light, and scans Richter.

"Well?" Sonic asked

"He's suffered severe damage, and nearly all his joints are fractured, and….slight nausea?"

"Richter's never thrown up in battle before" Onyx said "Not even after the time we fought 150 gangbangers after he ate two tubs of gingerbread peppermint"

"Strange though…it looks like he is already…started to heal." said the girl. "He's one tough old echidna. What was he doing?"

"Fighting warlords, killing demons, getting beat by a crazy as hell dark brown hedgehog." Said Onyx

"Sorry I asked" She walks over to Alice and does the same. Red lights started to blink on the scanner. "She's... She's even worse than him! What have_ you_ been doing?!"

"I was fighting Wreak Xilon (Zi-lon) GronMin. " Alice said weakly. (Xilon is the general rank in the criminal underground)

"What's wrong with Alice?" Lila asked

"All her joints are dented, her power ceil is nearly drained. It's a miracle she's even operational. You're just like Master Richter. What's wrong with you Alice?!"

"Nice to see you too, **Lindsey**" Alice said rolling her eyes. A few black bot-bots came over hovering around, Alice and started working on her. "Have you *grunt* been doing Ok?"

"Well just fine until I saw all these Cramos or whatever you call them here. It's so hard to treat someone when there life lines are already Zero! I can't get any reading!"

"Well, let me help you so you can…. AHH!" Alice was gasping in pain. "OW! OW! OW!"

"Oh no you don't!" Lindsey demanded. "You're going to lay here until I'm finished working with you. Bot-bot's! I need a curtain now!" The Bot-Bot's wrapped a large curtain around Alice's bed. Lindsey got out her tools and Medical items. She hooks a chrome cord to Alice's neck. "We'll have to keep you in your gearterriean form for the duration of the operation"

"That's fine" said Alice "Wait! Can you send one of the bots to my lab?

"Sure, why?"

"If you're going to be working on me, I have some new biogear parts that I've wanted to try out."

"Biogear? But…those are-you mean to tell me that you have been..?"

"Could you please just send one down there, I'm starting to leak blue zinc over here" Alice said impatiently.

"Alright, Airtight" Lindsey sent a signal to one of the bot-bot's, then one of them hovered out of the room. "You know that these parts are more advance then anything that even Mr. Reygen has been working on, don't you? He told you not to even consider using them. The risk is too great."

"Don't worry" Alice answered back. "I have...confidence it will work." The bot-bot returned with a metal box. Lindsey opens up the box and sees a many different blue and silver parts. "I had then sized to where I can install them even in gearterriean, and there my size so you should have any problem installing them."

Lindsey got out one of the parts and looked back at Alice. "Ok…but I'm still not sure if I should do this. Lindsey set up a small Computer monitor next to the bed and hooked another wire to Alice's neck. "You may feel some discomfort during the operation.

Sonic walks around and sees bot-bots tending to the patients. His eyes widened when he saw Amy lying 3on a bed. He runs over to her and looks at her. She looks back at Sonic and smiles. "Amy, are you Ok?"

"You're so worried about me." Amy said back "Seeing your face always makes me better. So did you beat that ugly lizard?"

"No" Sonic said distraught "looks like we barely made it out of this one. Mother even got hurt can you believe it?"

"Yeah….but at least we're all ok." Sonic lowered down to Amy and kissed her. Chrome walked over to Darcy, who was lying in a bed, with Zerach sitting next to her. She had her eyes barely opened.

"Madame Darcy" Chrome started as he knelt down in front of her. "Forgive me….. We failed to protect you and your Cramoisi. If you want to reconsider make us your protectors.."

"Failed?" said Zerach "Failed, you say my son? This boy and girl right over here save us" Zerach pointed at Jem and Nai. "You, my boy, haven't failed. This young man was remarkable in his own…special way."

"Awww!" Nai said rubbing his head "it was nothing"

"I would do anything for you guys" Jem said gazing on them with her eyes sparkling.

Chrome looked at Zerach and smiled, but then paid his attention back to Darcy. "So what happened to her?"

"She was cut in the shoulder by Klaus." Zerach explained "The nit metal blade left a big gash"

"Will she be alright?"

"It's nothing child…." Darcy said in a weak tone. "I will recover. It will take some time and black hearted blood, but I will be fine. *cough* Cough* UHH! "

"Darcy. Please don't strain yourself. The doctor says not to move her so much." Said Zerach

"If that's the case, then you should stay on board until you fully recover. You still sound very weak. We'll look after you and the other Cramoisi." Chrome said.

"Thank you" said Zerach.

Daniel was lying in a bed next to Rachel. Milli and Zilli were looking over him, with worry in their eyes. "Are you going to be Ok, big brother?" Asked Milli

"That Klaus is such a jerk!" said Zilli shaking her fist "If I were stronger...I'd! I'd! GRRRR!"

"It's alright you two" Daniel said in small, weak tone. "Don't worry about me…I'll be fine. As long as you are safe, that's all that matters." Sonic walked over to Daniel. Daniel looks at Sonic with a small smile. "Hey…Sonic, *grunt* Are you Ok?"

"heh, don't worry about me!" Sonic said "You did good watching over Mother. She was able to give Klaus a beating he'll never forget."

"Yeah" Daniel agreed "With his arms cut up, no way he's going to darkening our door way for some time"

Milli and Zilli walked up To Sonic to hug him. "It's been too long" said Milli

"Mr. Sonic, or should we call you big brother now?" Zilli added

"Huh?" Sonic scratches his head out of confusion.

"You don't remember us?" asked Milli

"He doesn't remember us!" said Zilli

"You helped us back in station square remember? You, another hedgehog, two rabbits and two Echidnas Remember, over six months ago?" (See Chap 17 of book one)

"Ohhhhhh!" said Sonic "I remember now! Hey how have you two been"

"I told you we'd never forget!" said Milli

"Even though you did, big bro" said Zilli

Ty was looking at the curtain where Lindsey was working on Alice. He was so worried about her. Waiting behind the curtain was annoying for him. "Can I see what you are doing?" Ty asked from outside the curtain.

Lindsey peeks outside the curtain "Sorry, I'm doing a thorough Robian operation here. I can't let anyone in." she then goes back inside.

Ty sighed in disappointment and looks back at Richter.

Lindsey was looking over Alice, as the bot-bot's were replacing some of her old parts with new ones. Alice was grunting and panting in pain, as the bots were detaching her arms and a few parts near her arm and belly, and head. "*Sigh* If you weren't such a hardhead this wouldn't be happening to you."

"Heh heh! I guess I would expect to hear no less from a medical Robian" Alice said. "Don't forget I'm a medical one too."

"You're in no condition to work with me Alice…at least until I'm done here"

"But, Daddy...he needs my.."

"Don't worry, I've got it taken care of. Now, I'll have to shut you for the remaining time during the procedure."

Alice sighed and lies back down on the bed. "That's fine. Take all the time you need." Alice said. Lindsey started typing on her computer then Alice's eye irises turned gray. 

Lindsey gives another signal to the bot-bot's to continue working on Alice. She turns around and looks outside the medical curtain. "**Sacred?!"** She called for.

"Coming! Coming!" A black ferret with yellow hair came running over to Lindsey. She was wearing a blue blouse with brown shorts and sandals, comes up to Lindsey huffing and puffing. "Sorry, Blade and Ryan were hurt pretty badly. Summoning those Dragon's did a number on him. What is it Lin?" asked the ferret.

"Can you look at Richter? He needs attention. I've still got to look after Alice."

"Sure!" said Sacred "Leave everything to me!" Lindsey covers up the curtain. Sacred walks over to Richter, taking out a green jema. It stars to glow, and turns in to a three foot staff with a gem at the top. She then waves it over Richter, and it starts to glow, and a stream of light comes down at Richter slowly healing the cuts and wounds. Richter's eyes start to open up. The first thing he sees is Quinn's smiling face. He glomps on to his faces and hugs him.

"CHOA CHO!" he said

"GAH!" Richter said "I can't breathe!" Quinn lets go of his face. Richter grabs him and pets his head.

""Chao, Chao, Chao" Quinn said happily

"I'm happy to see you too, buddy. Hey everybody what's up?!"

"Oh Richter!" Lila runs over to hug him, making Richter blush. She then looks at him in the eyes and kisses him. When they broke, they stared at each other passionately.

"Did you ever think I wasn't going to make it?" Richter asked

"No, it's just I was so worried" Lila answered back

"Richter!" Sonic and Chrome said running over to him.

"Glad to see you're Ok, Solairte" said Jet with his arms crossed lying up against the door."

"Is everyone…Ok?" Richter asked.

"Some Cramoisi are severely injured" said Chrome "The problem is we need a large supply of black blood to heal them."

"Aren't there any Vessels around?" Richter asked.

"Chasers" Chrome corrected "And they were all eliminated. And the Exen's are all gone."

"Great…." Richter said as he dropped his head down "How are supposed to help them now?! OW!" Richter said grunting in pain.

"Careful, your body is still healing" Sacred said

"I guess we will have to go back to the battle field and siphon out the blood of all the dead agents. Said Onyx

"Wait!? Black blood? Vessels?! Just what are you guys talking about?!" Jet asked.

"Hey" Chrome turned around and saw Nero walking up to them. Chrome was about to draw his weapon.

"Chrome wait!" Richter stopped "He's on our side. I think…"

"Say what?!" Chrome said in disbelief."

"Richter….did you tell that girl you puked before you kissed her?" Nero asked

"You did what?!" Lila exclaimed

"I puked?" Richter asked "I don't remember….I mean…I come close to doing it, but I never…..did I?"

"Yup, you did…." Sonic said

"That rarely happens…." Chrome stated

"Anyway…..You said that they need blood in order to live right?" Nero asked

"Yeah?" Richter said confused.

Nero looks at all the Cramoisi. He then makes a knife appear from the red energy. He takes the knife and cuts the palm of his hand. Everyone was in shock to see what he did next. He saw his hand dripping blood, but then they see one drop stop in the middle of the air. The then saw a stream of blood come out of his hand. The stream then turned into a large ball of blood. Nero controls the blood with his other hand. Everyone was shocked at what they were looking at.

"OH my..!" Lila said covering her mouth

"That looks soooooo good" said Rocky

"What on earth?!" Chrome said stepping back.

"EWWW!" Wave said

"What is he doing?!" said Jet looking away.

"Looks kind of cool" said Strom.

"Ha Beh beh beh beh beh! Hebe! Mamo…" Richter babbled as he looked at the blood and fainted.

Darcy and the other Cramoisi were in shock as well. Nero made one flick of the wrist and within the second, the ball scattered into many different parts while still maintaining the form of smaller balls. The little blots of blood were hovering over the in front of the faces of the injured Cramoisi. (They were all in their normal forms now so Nero could tell who was who). "All of you, Drink this." He said

Darcy looked at the wolf in question. Nero's expression was empty. But for some reason she was to tell if he had desire to trick them or not. Darcy gave every injured Cramoisi the order to drink the sample of floating blood. Darcy opened her mouth and the ball of blood flew in. She and the others drink the blood completely.

"Chrome! Richter!" Everyone turns to the door and sees a few of the human children and a large tub floating in.

"What's going o….." Chrome stopped abruptly seeing who was in the tub. It was Lori who was slowly breathing, and was bleeding horrendously. "Lori?!"

"Hi….sensei…." Lori whispered looking at Chrome with her right eye closed.

Chrome looks at the rest of Lori's cut up bleeding body. What happened?"

"Al…gil..dus…" she managed to say followed by a few coughs.

"_Let me explain things…." _Everyone heard a echoing laughter come out of nowhere. _"I am your worst nightmare come to life! MAH HA HA HA HA HA!"_

"Get out here, now!" Nero told the voice.

"OK OK fine..." Lori's forehead glows bright red. Then a red flash brightens the room. When the flash lifted there was another silver wolf who appeared next to Lori. "You sir, are a royal killjoy!"

"You're realizing this just now?" Nero asked back

"What the…" Chrome said looking at the wolf

Richter opened his eyes and saw the two wolves. He then rubs his eyes and looks at them again. Onyx looks at the Kaiser in shock.

"There's two of you?!" the two of them asked.

"And where the hell have you been?!"Nero asked in a shrill tone.

"I had to get some snow cones to watch the battles" Kaiser said rubbing the back of his head.

Nero slapped his head and rubbed it against his face, he then knelt to the ground panting.

"Also to help bring home a little fish out of water. Old Algidius was a sadistic genus. He cut her up in all the non-vital places. Problem is, her blood is draining something fearsome. I managed to delay any more blood from leaving…sadly there's no telling how long she's got… Hey! Are you alright?" Kaiser walks up to Nero "What did you just do?"

"What does it look like genius? I used...my blood"

"Well I was just asking…"

Amy was still looking at the two wolves bickering. All of a sudden she felt a burst of energy flow through her veins. It was as if she had a shot of caffeine. Her body was bursting with energy in less than a minute. And not just her, the other Cramoisi were getting up. "What's going on?" Amy asked herself.

"Big brother? are you Ok?" Zilli asked

"Yeah….. Suddenly I feel better, a lot better. All my wounds are slowly healing." Daniel said "Rachel, how are you feeling?"

"Great! Like I had one shot of an energy drink!" Rachel said getting out of her bed.

"YHAOO!" said Tawny shooting out of bed and stretch her muscles but cringing in pain. "AHH! OW!"

"Careful Tawny" Zeke said getting back up himself

Richter looked at the Cramoisi all slowly getting up, and then he turns to Nero, slowly healing his wound. "How did you…." He was still grossed out but at the same time amazed at what he saw Nero do.

"What? You've never seen someone move blood before?" Kaiser asked.

"This is all freaky and all, but don't you see we have someone bleeding to death here?!" Sonic points to Lori.

"Let me see" Lindsey comes over and scans her body. "Oh God. I don't even know where to start. Fortunately since she's in this thing she hasn't lost any more blood; she would have been dead by now. "

"See?" Kaiser turns to Jayden. "Told ya.

"What do we do?" asked Toby being helped by Saphron. Sacred comes over to Lori and waves her staff over to heal her.

"We got to do something!" Jayden said "Lori….maybe if I turn her into a Cramoisi, she get her limbs back."

"I'm afraid not, child" Zerach walks over to him. "If she were a Cramoisi now, we could restore her body to its natural state. However, if we change her now her severed limbs will rot and turn to bone."

"Yeah, don't be an idiot Jayden" Ty said making Jayden glare at him. "The smart thing to do would be to turn her into a Robian. She'll get new limbs and her body will be healed.

"You guys don't know if she even wants that!" Toby argued. All three of them start to argue.

"I've got to go back to Alice" Lindsey said going back in the curtain.

"Hey, wolf boy!" Zenith said walking up to Nero with some bandages on his body.

"Hey! I didn't say you could get up!" said Lindsey out from the curtain

"Just what are you trying to pull, hotshot?!" First you attack our captain then you show off those moves of yours then you vanish and when you come back, you help us? I mean what's up with that?!"

Nero looks at Zenith, with a blank stare. "You people have an odd way of saying thank you."

"Oh I'm so sorry, your highness!" Zenith said crossing his arms "I didn't know I had to thank people who threaten my life. I mean you seem like a real riot with your flashy swords!"

"What does the term riot mean to you anyway?" Nero asked back

"Well…uhhhh….well..I don't know" Zenith said hesitantly

"We could do something about the limbs" Jayden said

"Yeah they will be ruined!" Ty said

"How about we ask her before we do something drastic?" Toby asked

"That's enough!" Chrome ordered.

"Gentlemen!" Raygen walks up to the four with a big smile. "I couldn't help but over hear. I think I know of a way to solve her dilemma"

"Don't I have a say in this?" Lori asked quietly.

"That is what I am trying to say…." Toby stated

"Well the choice is yours" Raygen was able to hear Lori despite of her tone. "We can fix you up. However, you will not be the same, and you can't fight. Or you can put your trust in me, and I will repair you, so you can fight again"

"You're making her sound like an object" Kaiser looks at Lori slowly lift her head up, using the edge of the cask to balance herself. She then looks at the scientist and Kaiser.

"I….I accept your offer" she then closes her other eye and lays back down in the cask.

"Splendid! Allen, bring her to the life support system. We have work to do!" Raygen said

"Very well…." Allen said pushing the cask into another room.

"Wa…wait…" Toby starts limping over to the room but then falls down.

"What's wrong with him?" Saphron said

Allen kneels down and l touches his chest. He then gets a scanner of his own to look at his status. "Mmmmm…this is not good at all...his body temperature and blood pressure is low."

"Well we'd better help him too…" Raygen told Allen "Let's take them both to the lab"

"Anything else, "master" Allen insulted while picking up Toby.

"No that will be it"

Onyx was staring at Nero, who was looking at Zenith. He then saw Richter slowly try to get up. Richter then let out a shout of pain the moment he got up. "Richter! What's wrong?"

"It's…Alright...my back just hurts is all" Richter said

"Please be careful" said Sacred "Your wounds are still healing"

"Ah! Don't worry about me, kid. I've suffered….. AHHH HA HA HA! " Richter was just about to stand up when his body just froze out of pain. "Chrome? Blue boy? A little help?"

Chrome walks over to help Richter stand up "DAH HA HA!" Richter screamed with every move he made. "NNNEEE!" Everyone could hear some of his bones crack. "AHHHH! WHAAA! NAAHH! OWW! NA-NA GAAAHHH! NE-OH-HO-HO! "

"Oh for Pete sake!" Kaiser walks behind Richter. "I can't hear this anymore….HHAAYY!" Kaiser karate chops Richter's back.

"AHHH! I'm RUINED! Huh….ohhh" Richter stood up straight. "Not a lick of pain…"

"That will do...echidna….that will do" Kaiser pats his back

"I think it's time you two start talking." Richter said to the two wolves.

"Fair enough" Nero said without hesitation.

"Let's go somewhere where we can all talk" Jaygar said.

"Wait! Alice!..." Richter completely forgot about his daughter. "Where is she?"

"Don't worry" Lindsey said coming out of the curtain. "She should be fine now." She uncovered the curtain and reviled Alice who was not moving. "Oops! Almost forgot!" Lindsey flipped the switch to on, and then Alice's body began to emit a blue glow. Alice's eyes shot open and looked around the room. She then gets up and looks at Lindsey. "You're new biogear has been installed. Try walking around" Alice got out of bed and tried to walk, she stumbled a little as Lindsey was helping her up. She then continued to walk all the way up to Richter. Richter looked at her smiling.

"Alice…you Ok?" Richter asked

"I'm a little sore but I'm fine" Alice answered.

"I was so scared Alice" Ty said hugging her softly. (he too was also in gearterriean form)

"Aww, it's Ok" She then turns and sees Nero. "Father...what's he doing here? I thought he was our enemy"

"Well...it's hard to explain. Anyway why don't you two change back?"

"Yes sir" Ty said as his body slowly changed back. Alice changed back to normal and was standing on two legs. She was about half a foot shorter then Ty. "Whoa, so that's how tall you are"

"Yup!" Alice answered in her young child voice. She then took one step forward and started to fall. "WHAAA! OFFF!" Alice fell flat on her face on the ground.

"OH NO! What's wrong with her?" Ty asked helping her up.

"Nothing,," Richter said "This is normal for her…you see…. she can't walk"

"Why not?"

"is it because of the **Chimera Project**?" Lindsey asked "Because she has animal DNA inside of her?"

"Well that and the fact she was never taught. I wanted to teach her but she said she likes crawling" Richter explained.

"Owie!" Alice said slowly getting on her hands and knees.

_**The Ulti Jema**_

About a few moments later, everyone at the terra sunset was sitting in the classroom of the ship. Everyone was sitting in a large room with aisle like seats, and looking at Richter pacing around with a cane. Sonic was watching him pace. Nero, Kaiser and Jaygar were looking at Richter from behind. Lila was sitting at the front desk with Alice who was sitting on the table. Darcy was sitting next to Zerach in the front row. Darcy was wearing a cast on her left arm, and was bandaged up all the way to her waist.

"There" Lindsey said fixing the cast "Though your wounds are healing rapidly, you still need to wear this cast for a little while. You should be fully healed soon.

"Thank you ,darling" Darcy said. Lindsey smiled at Darcy and walked back to Jill and the other Robieans. Zerach placed his hand on Darcy, for comfort.

Everyone was whispering quietly as Richter paced around Quinn was hovering around Richter as he was pacing. "OK!" Richter started. He swings his hand, and without paying attention and hits Quinn all the way to Alice where she caught him. "Where to start? "

"How about, "It's so good to see you Master Jaygar"...or "thanks for coming back after all these years" Jaygar joked.

"Oh Ha ha!" Richter laughed sarcastically. "Well I already said thank you alright?"

"What Richter is trying to say is that it's good to see you again Master" Chrome said

"Likewise, my boy"

"What about these Exen you guys were talking about?" Sonic asked "just who are they?"

"The Exen Twelve" Jaygar started "They are twelve of the most powerful users in the underground, each one a master of the twelve known elements. Light, (Jaygar) Plant (Chiller) Fire (Claw) Water (Lymph) Earth (Richter) Gravity (Chrome) Steel (Nero) Wind (Renton) Ice (Algidius) Sound (Clangen) Lightning (Tono) and Darkness (Bayniar). "

"Each of them even has a Jema of their own. Not just any Jema" Tono added

"**The sacred Ulti Jema**" Richter finished

"Yeah Uhhhh….. Still not so sure about this whole Jema thing" Sonic said scratching his head

"To make a long story short" Richter starts talking "Jema are stones that have been around for about as long as the chaos emeralds. They absorb energy that is around them, like elemental sponges. Over four millennia ago people relayed on their power and used it for many purposes, power machines, start fires, store water. These stones were like….God in your hand"

"They didn't have machines back then…." Sonic scoffed

"Our people had many things you would not believe" Chrome added "Which led to war against them and a fight for survival."

"I know of that war" Darcy pointed out. "It happened years after Chaos nearly destroyed the world"

"So how come I've never heard of it?" Knuckles asked

"Good question" Richter said "Echidnas were quite the pioneers back then, but after Chaos nearly wiped them out, much of their tech and secrets were lost"

"Did you know any of them back then, Sir Zerach?" Chrome asked

"Yes, son" Zerach said "Darcy and I know very well of Jema and the echidnas. Some of them were good comrades of ours. Jema has been around since the dawn of time, and has been used in many ways but today we use them as weapons. Quite similar to what I gave my children."

"Though Jema is still around, not many people use it as they did long ago" Tono mentioned "You know of the Ulti Jema, Richter?"

"Of course I do. There my father's!"

"Our ancestor, the first Solairte, created the Sacred Jema to use against those who abused the Jema's power. Since then, the Solairte clan has been the watchful eye of the Sacred Jema, and formed an alliance to cover our true objective."

"That alliance was known as the criminal Underground" Richter interrupted "That's like Solairte history 101"

"So, your ancestors are the reason why so many people are suffering?" Sonic asked

"Sadly, yes. Some criminal lords did things their way, and our organization became less democratic year after year. Leading the mafia into one big mess"

"And the Sacred Jema were taken from us, all except one" Richter summons his Jema in front of the others. "If I was in control, I would get the underground back to the way it should be Protecting the Sacred Jema from harm…."

"So…like is the criminal underground for criminals or not?" Sonic asked

"Yes and no" Chrome said

"We would perform criminal actions, but it's all supposed to be a cover to hide our true objective. And right now, those weapons are in the hands of the other seven Exen."

"Quite right" Jaygar said "Each of the Jema that the Exen hold belong to the Solairte's. The last one to hold them all, was Richter's father.." Jaygar brought out a white Jema and showed it to everyone and hands it to Richter. It instantly mataralizes and becomes a pair of crossbows. "**Illuluxior **(ill-u-lux-ior). I'm not one to fight unless I have something to shoot with in one hand, and something sharp in the other. That's why I never used mine that much…"

"So they now belong to your father?" Knuckles asked

"No" Richter aims the cross bows at the celling and shoots the cross bows making a large flash and small sparks fall. "They are the property of the Solairte family, and now that my father's gone.."

"That would make them yours and Chrome's" Sonic finished

"Right…" Jaygar answered. "They were once in Rizen's possession. However, about ten years ago, the jema were stolen from him, by his own crew mates. He didn't know it at first, until he confronted Dante' himself. When that happened, it all went downhill from there. Dante' ordered Ziggfreed to take down Rizen with his own crew, and if any crew mate refused, they would be killed. Back at Red Canyon Zone, Rizen was aware of Ziggfreed's plan, and wanted to take care of him personally. Sadly however, Rizen didn't stand a chance, and was unable to beat him. Ziggfreed was to powerful, because the thought of his crew mates deceiving him and the loss of his wife Luna, Rizen could not focus and beat him, which lead to his demise." Jaygar brought his head down and closed his eyes. "I…lost a good friend that day. Rizen was like a brother to me. A man with such promise and ideals, all he wanted was to live peacefully with his friends and family….to have him feel the way he did back then. It must have been unbearable." Jaygar opened his eyes and looked at Richter. He walks over and pats his shoulder. "It must have been hard for you the most, you and your brother. I wish I was there for you after you…"

"Please…" Richter interrupted "it's Ok….there was nothing anyone could do. My father's gone that's all there is to it"

"No son" Jaygar said "You have inherited his power...you and Chrome were even able to master two elements all on your own. And you were even able to build up a new crew, and a good one at that." Richter turns the jema back into a stone. The stone then disappears and reappears as a ring on one of Richter's dreads.

"What the….?" Richter said feeling the Jema.

"Keep it" Jaygar said "Like the hedgehog said, it's yours now. Now it's up to you to collect the remaining eight sacred jema stones"

"Hey uhhh mister?" Sonic asked walking "Who exactly are ya?

"His name is Jaygar." Richter introduced "He a friend to the Solairte family. He was also mine and Chrome's mentor when we were kids. He taught us how to use our elements when my parents went on raids."

"Out of all the other Criminal lords who turned on our father, he is one of the few who didn't. And for that very reason, we plan to take back the underground." Chrome mentioned

"Yes. After Rizen was suspicious he wanted me to take you in and plan a rebellion against Dante'. A few years late, but I somewhat kept my promise. I tried to find you and your father but once I reached Red Canyon Zone…I was too late. I had no idea where you went…and when I saw that you made Exen...I only hoped you still had intentions of avenging your father and bringing down that tyrant, and it looks like you want to live up to his word. That's why I've been gathering as many people as I can to help you."

"You've been doing this for ten years?" Zerach asked

"indeed. Even if Richter didn't build a crew in time, he would still have a crew that I have gathered. So as you can see that is why I'm here."

"How noble" Darcy complemented

"I knew you were still on my father's side!" Richter said "But what about this guy?" Richter pointed at Nero. "Why did he attack me when he did?"

"Richter, that was my doing, my apologies" Jaygar said "Nero didn't want to join me until he knew for sure he could trust you."

"So you fought me just to see if I was the real deal" Sonic asked

"Putting it simply" Nero answered "Jaygar told me that you were the son of the Pirate king. I wanted to make sure of that firsthand"

"But, why?" Richter asked

"Why would an Exen like you want to side with Richter?" Sonic asked "Aren't you like, Dante's pawn or something?"

"Soligl" Darcy mentioned

Nero looked back at sonic with a cold stare. "I am nobody's pawn. I only wanted to get closer to Dante' to get answers. That's why I wanted to be a high ranking criminal lord."

"Soligl"

"And did whateeeeeever it took to get there!" Kaiser added "And Dante' was never the wiser"

"Soligl"

"I was made Exen the first four months after I became a Criminal lord, after I heard the successor of the Exen of Steel was killed"

"Ziggreed" Richter mentioned "Yeah, I was the one who finished him off."

"Well goody for you buddy boy! It's that reason to why Nero and I became the Exen's of steel!" Kaiser said. "That and the fact that we kick butt!"

"Once I became Exen" Nero continued "I met Jaygar. He offered me a chance to get some answers about Dante' when I couldn't find anything. When he told me about you, I wanted to see if you truly are as strong as he said."

"_Soligil"_ Darcy said a fourth time trying to be clear.

"That's why. And the Ginn's?"

"Nothing but stepping stones in the way. None of them were strong enough to take me down. You are the first Criminal lord who even lasted three minutes with me, and beyond that."

"But YOU managed to last longer than ANY one we've faced so far. Kudos to the guy with the large hammer and rocks!" Kaiser added.

"And you knew about Ziggfreed's plan back in Mazzuri" (See chap 10-13 for details) "That's why you told us to stay away?"

"Well look who is finally getting the pieces together" Kaiser said "Should have listened" he spoke in a singsong tone.

"Hey..uhhh" Sonic said "Who is this guy, and why does he look like you?"

"I'm Kaiser!" the other gray wolf introduced "I'm what you call…." Kaiser walked up to sonic while moving his hands around all wave like. "a doppelganger WHOOO! Soooo Creepy….." Sonic then had a small sweatdrop come down his face.

"A doppelganger?" Richter walks up close to Kaiser and looks at his face. "You…you almost smell normal…can you change into anything else?!"

"Maybe…" Kaiser said getting up to his face. "Can you lift a mountan?"

"Only if it's Everest!" they both stare at each other and then laugh.

Nero grabbed Kaiser by the collar of his jacket; Chrome grabs Richter by his vest collar.

"Can you act normal for five seconds!?" they asked in unison abruptly. "huh?" they look at each other.

"Awkward…." Zenith whispered

"for me this is normal" Both Richter and Kaiser said in So anywho Mr. Rich-ter that's our story.

"Ok…I get ya" Richter said "Well if you want to come along don't let me stop you. By the way...It's Richter "

Almost everyone had a shocked expression after hearing Richter, saying that the man who tried to kill him was just welcoming him with open arms. "Now wait just a minute!" Zenith shouted "Are you really going to let him join us Richter?!"

"He could have killed you!" Tawny also shouted

"Oh My!" Richter ran over to Tawny and sat on her lap. "I had no idea you cared so much, Tawny!" Richter said with big, blinking anime eyes and his hands under his face."You're so sweet!"

Tawny's face went bright red. "EW! Get off me you old geezer!" Tawny threw him down. "Yuck! Someone get me some germ killer"

"Well..!" Richter said getting up and walking back to the desk. "For the record, I'm only twenty-two!" Jaygar let out a light chuckle.

"I think I'm going to like this guy." Kaiser said to Nero.

"Yes, you finally found someone who is as much as a nut-job as you…"

"Though her input was shrill, she has a point." Chrome said talking to Nero "You attack my brother, you almost kill him, and now you want to come with us? How can we trust you?

"You shouldn't" Nero said in a cold tone

"We'll just have to earn your trust, if you let us" Kaiser added

"Chro, he did help us in the fight and he helped the Kamikazes (Cramoisi) back on their feet. I say let's let him on board" Richter mentioned

"He did also try to warn us to stay away from Mazzuri" Sonic mentioned "I agree with Richter. I can't believe I said that…" 

"Are you crazy, hedgehog?!" Knuckles said "Why don't we just go to Klaus now and ask him for his twitter page?!"

"Klaus has a twitter page?" Sonic asked

"I wonder who follows him" Kaiser asked "Probably old geezers"

"If Klaus launches another one of those purges, he will soon have more followers than you can imagine…." Darcy mentioned

"What?!" Asked Knuckles and Sonic

"Hey guys!" Zilli said walking in with Milli behind them was a big rat (slightly larger as Big the cat) with a white vest and black pants. He was caring a howler monkey on his back. Everyone was shocked as they saw the big rat.

"Whoa!" Sonic said. "You weren't kidding Rocky!"

"_That's_ a _big_ Mobiean." Ty gasped.

"Good golly wally!" Richter said falling on his bottom. "Wha-who-why-huh?" He started looking back at him and everyone else pointing fingers. "Bi-Bi-bi-bi-mo-mo-mo GIANT RAT!"

"Hey that's the same expression he gave you ,Big" Charmy said

"Good thing we don't have any elephants on this ship…" Zenith said

"You're not scared are you, Richter?" Sonic asked

"NO! He…just surprised me that's all"

"Hello. How youse doing" the rat spoke in a "Jersey' accent

"Hi-Hi-Hi" Richter said still stunned. "M-Master? Is he with you?"

"Yes" Jaygar said "This is Vermin Bon Borrson, he was once a Criminal lord but could not take being told what to do. So he wanted to join me in taking down Dan- Soligl"

"He's big!" Milli said "But very nice"

"He looks menacing, but deep down he wouldn't hurt a fly"

"Only those who offend people who are nice to me" Borrson spoke

"Bon, huh?" Richter questioned "I can see why. (Note: Bon is a criminal lord Rank which means lone agent) "So, big guy, what'cha got there?" Borrson throws the monkey down on the ground Richter was stunned to see who it was. It was Clangen wearing a pair of handcuffs and a metal brace on his neck. He stars at Richter with an angry glare.

"Clangen?!" Richter asked summoning his hammers.

"Why is he here?" Chrome asked

"OH! Look Nero! He survived!" Kaiser said "That technique really worked!"

"So it seems…" Nero agreed

"Technique?" Richter asked.

"Multi Death healing technique" Nero explained looking at Richter. "A Technique that allows the person it being used on to heal whenever he was on the verge of death. Didn't think it would work when I used it on someone other than myself, looks like I was wrong."

"Whoa!" Richter said "That's hard even for me!"

"So when a Cramoisi bites him and drains him….." Chrome started

"His body instantly heals itself and restores itself completely" Nero finished

"To do a technique at such a high level takes a lot of concentration" Chrome stated

"Which means it would be easy to break it if he wanted to" Zenith said smiling

"Mr. Nero, gave us a drinking fountain of black blood goodness!" Zilli said to Richter "He's a good Criminal lord just like you, big brother!"

"I wouldn't say "good" per se" Nero said looking the other way "He was annoying me. I was actually happy to do it."

"Good? Heh…yeah right." Zenith said

"HEY! That anyway to thank us after we helped you guys?!" Kaiser asked Pointing his finger at Zenith "Do you just see us as mindless thugs?!"

"I calls them as I sees them!" Zenith said pointing back

"Enough!" Chrome commanded.

"Doesn't a black heart die when he or she is bitten by a Cram-Cram?" Alice asked smiling

"They turn to dust, the minute they were drained" Tawny said clasping her hands

"And Mr. bad monkey has been drained numerous times!" Milli added.

"So with the technique keeping him alive, and if Nero were to somehow sever that technique, won't Clangen die?" Richter asked.

"That's right, Mr. Orange!" said Kaiser

"You're bluffing!" Clangen shouted. Nero then looks at him and holds out his fingers and slowly moves them horizontally.

"Sever…" he slowly said as his hands started to glow red. Clangen eyes widen as he saw his hands slowly turn to dust.

"AHHHH! OK OK! I believe you! I believe you!" Clangen said. Nero placed his fingers down and Clangen hands changed back to normal. "Sigh*" He then looked back at Richter and the others. Richter was trying his best to hold in his laughter.

"Well….I don't know what to say." Said Richter "Part of me does feel sorry for you, however you brought this on yourself. Maybe you will have a change in heart. Who knows? If you change your ways, I MAY make you an honorary Dusk raider."

"Fat chance!" shouted Alice

"GRRR! Damn you sugar freak! " Clangen shouted "Damn you big rodent! DAMN ALL OF YOU! UNCUFF ME NOW YOU *Bleep* Son of a *Bleep* I! *Bleep* *Bleep* And you're all! *Bleep*" Clangen was shouting and cussing like a mad monkey. (which he is) Lila covered Alice's ears. Borsson did the same to Milli and Zilli. Clangen gave a death stare to Nero. Nero did an even more deadly stare back which made him quake in his boots. Clangen looks at the Cramoisi and continues to speak in ill language. "YOU THINK YOU FREAKS CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT! UNTIE ME SOO I CAN…." Nero was just about to lift his finger when he felt a gust of strong wind blow out of nowhere. He turned and saw it was coming from Zerach.

"SILENCE YOUR TONGUE, MORTAL!" Zerach boomed as the wind blew around him violently. He slowly got up and walked over to him. "You _DARE_ speak that ill of my children?! Your life is spared and you have the _audacity _to spit at us with such foul profanity!?" Clangen was shaking like a leaf, slowly backing away as he stared at Zerach's eyes glowing with rage. "I should have you suffer a fate worse than death itself of even showing your face!"

"Daddy….you're angry" Milli said trembling hugging Zilli. Alice was covering her face in Lila's chest. Richter was just staring with wide eyes and looking at Quinn, who was looking back the same why.

"Choa chao chao…" Quinn said

"you can say that again…" Richter said back

Kaiser was hiding behind Nero. "Find a happy place! Find a happy place!" Kaiser said

Nero stood there and whistled. "Now, _I _think I like these guys already."

"P-Please….Mercy! I-I'm sorry" Clangen begged kneeling on his knees as tears when down his face.

"I should drain you _right now_. You infuriating APE!"

"Technically, he's a monkey, Sir Zerach" Richter said appearing in front of the furious shrew.

"AHH!" Zerach gasped in shock and steped back.

"You see he has a tail" Richter pulls on Clangen's tail. "Apes don't have them. So he would be a infuriating monkey or maybe baboon…." He looks down and Clangen see him sobbing. "WHAT!? No..no…NO! Are you crying? You call yourself a big monkey and here you are weeping like a little baby?" Grow a pair man! You say how big and strong you are, but when it comes down to it, you're nothing but a big coward when someone comes up to you face to face with power!

"So this is how the great Havoc Exen Clangen acts at the hands of defeat? Disgraceful" Chrome added

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen." Said Amy.

"Sir Zerach," sonic started "with all due respect, I don't think you're setting a good example of being a gentleman in front of everyone." Zerach looked at Sonic with narrow eyes, then back at everyone else. He then closed his eyes and sighed then smiled.

"You're right Sonic. I apologize, everyone" Darcy got up and walked over to Zerach and hugged him.

"We're all on edge here, Sir Zerach…no harm done" Jaygar said

"It's Alright my darling, you need not to pour your rage on him, the important thing is that we are all here and safe" Darcy added, as Zerach nodded and hugged her close.

"Heh heh!" Clangen looked at Sonic and gave him a thankful look. "Uhh thanks I think" Clangen said. Sonic looked back at him with a cold stare. He then walked up to his face.

"Don't think you're off the hook." He said in a cold tone. "You hurt my girl again…..I'll make your life a living hell."

"Ohhh… that was _your_ girl? " Sonic glared at him with his ruby-violet eyes glowing and a dark aura surrounding him. "AHH! I mean! I'm Sorry I had no idea!

"You know, I'm tired of hearing him talk" Shadow said walking up "Let's just have him turn to dust now." Clangen gave a big gulp.

"Well… I still want him around as well" Richter said.

"And why is that?" Shadow walks up to Richter's face.

"I want to get some info out of him. "Richter placed his elbow on Shadow's shoulder. "That is if Nero doesn't mind to hold that technique a little longer" Richter said turning his head to Nero.

"I can hold it only for so long." Nero said back to him

"WHAT! NO!" Clangen said weeping "I don't want to die!"

Zerach lets go of Darcy and looks at Clangen with narrow eyes. He then lifts his finger and a small yellow gem appears. He flicks his finger and the gem shoots in Clangen's forehead. Then a small wavy symbol appears on his forehead, and then changes into a headband-like tiara. "There, that should do it, Nero you can release it now."

"Alright" Nero said without hesitation moving his finger horizontally.

There was a bright flash that appeared around Clangen. He looks at himself and sees that his body was still intact. He then looks at Zerach "What…did you do me?"

"Be grateful I'm in a more generous mood then I was earlier, Mortal. It's either because I want to show my gratitude to Mr. Jaygar, or the fact that I feel sorry for you. I placed an object called a **light seed** inside you. As long as that seed is inside you will not turn to ash. Once removed, the seed will destroy any black heart it leaves. You have been spared from our wrath. But I warn you, mortal" Zerach walks up all the way to Clangen's face slowly as he speaks. "If you think for even a second about crossing me, my wife, my children, or my friends, you will suffer a pain far greater than any other black heart we Cramoisi have slain. Do I make myself clear?"

Zerach was all the way up to his face. Clangen eyes were both widened as he looked at him. "Yes…yes! Thank you! Thank you!" he bows at his feet.

"And there's one more thing" Richter said he looks back at Alice and beacons her with his finger. Alice jumps of the table and crawls over to Richter. He then gets out his Green Sacred Jema and lets Alice sniff it. He then points at Clangen. Alice smiles and pounces on him searching his pockets.

"AHA!" Alice said holding a similar peach colored Jema in her hand. She puts it in her mouth, crawls back to Richter and gives it to him. Richter then pats her on the head and looks at the Jema.

"The Sacred Jema of sound" Richter said making the Jema appear right in front of him. They were a large pair of cymbals.

"Noitonuior" Chrome Declared "So you were right Jaygar. That's father's Jema, alright" Chrome saw a small rock fall out of it. He then turns the cymbals back to a stone that then turns into a bracelet on Richter's left arm. Richter picked up the blue stone and started to feel a burning sensation from it.

"AHHHHH!" he shouted as he dropped the rock. He was holding his hand out of pain. Darcy and Zerach started to swoon when they felt the stones energy. In less than a second Groove rushed to the stone and seals it in a glass tube.

"Object contain, sir" He said

"Whoa! Thanks!" Richter said. He then looked at Alice who was also laying down panting. She was panting as if she were tired, like she just ran a 4 mile long marathon. "Alice….. are you AHH!' Richter still felt the same pain from his hand from the stone. Zerach walks over to Richter.

"Let me look at it" Zerach holds up Richter's hand to look at it, as he was still inhaling sharply in pain, and inhaling sharply. Richter's glove was burned though his hand and his hand had red marks on it. "Mmmmm….looks like you got burned by a high quality Nith metal stone.

"But…I thought stuff like that could only hurt me if I was in my Cram-zoo form." Richter reminded.

"That is true Richter….however is seems Klaus must have increased its power somehow it can even burn the Crepuscule.

"Klaus will do whatever it takes to make sure that all of us are wiped off the face of the earth." Darcy added 'Even those of hybrid Cramoisi such as you and Chrome.

Zerach then turns to Clangen who was backing away. "That stone was in your weapon was it not?" he asked in a firm tone.

"AHH! I'm sorry! I won't do it again!" He screamed

"Well it's ok if it burned me…but" Richter looks at Alice slowly getting up still panting and sweating. "Alice?"

"Ohhhh…Alice is ok." Alice got back on all fours and shook her head. "The stone must have had a negative effect on the new biogear." Alice then called over her bot-bot's. Five of them came over and hovered around Clangen. "Take him to detention Cell B on deck Zero."

"What! You're going to lock me up?!" Clangen shouted. He tried to shout with his sound element but noting came out. "Wha-What did you do? Why doesn't my scream work?!"

"Don't bother" Alice said crawling over and touching a metal brace around his neck. "This is a Negative ion Inhibitor.

"A negative what now?" Clangen asked back

"Never mind. Your brain is too small to comprehend. That brace is set to negate any elemental attacks." We put it on prisoners to prevent them from escaping. Take him away."

"Yes Miss Alice" one of the bot-bot's said with a red top. The pickup Clangen and take him out of the room. Alice was glaring at the monkey as he was leaving.

"Good job Alice" Richter said patting her "Sticking it to them just like your old man!"

"Master Zerach should have just let him die." Alice said coldly. Richter looked at Alice as a shadow was covering her eyes. "Black hearts like him shouldn't even be around….not knowing the pain he's caused others…he knows nothing!"

"Alice…." Richter face was full of concern.

Alice stood up and hugged Richter. She was a couple of feet taller than him. "Alice is sorry. She…is...still"

"I understand" Richter said patting her back. Alice then crawled back to Lila, who hugged her back. Lila looks at Richter and smiles as he smiled back.

"Well now that that's taken care of, why don't we decide what our next move is?" Richter said looking at Chrome. Chrome got out a hologram projector that showed a map of the world.

"Since the other Exen aren't chasing after us, I think for now we should look for the remaining Gaia gates.

"Yeah" Sonic said "Klaus is just going to make more of those Chasers."

"We already have sealed three of the seven Gaia gates." Chrome said.

"Which one is the next closest?" Richter asked.

"Mmmm…. Chrome looked at the map and pointed to where an orange marker was. "This is Megalo station, where we are now.

"Looks like the closest one is in **Holoska."** Sonic said looking at the map.

"**Holoska**. Nothing but ice up there." Richter said "There's a Gaia Gate up there?"

"Yeah…if I remember." Sonic said

"Ohhhhh….Alice hates the cold." Alice said shivering

"Richter, if you don't mind. I would like to go to** White tundra Zone." **Jaygar asked.

"That's about twenty miles to where the village of the Temple is." Ryan said

"It is also the place where the Underground has no jurisdiction over." Chrome added "Why do you want to go there?"

"For just that reason. That is the place where we can discuss our next move. You can drop us off there, and then you can tend to whatever business you have there."

"Fine by me" Richter said "Holoska it is then."

"YAY! Rin-Rin said getting up. I've got to get ready!" She dashed out of the room.

"And what about you Madame Darcy? What will you do?" Richter asked.

"I do apologize, Richter, but I am….. still very weak, and my children are still healing. I'm in no condition to fight or even fly.

"Solieanna isn't en Route to where we are going, and we haven't the time to fly all the way there in our state." Chrome Mentioned. The north is the only place we can make tracks to.

"Well then, I guess the Capybaras (Cramoisi) are going to have to stay us until we can get them home." Richter said. "That is if that's aright with my crew."

"Of course! There's plenty of room!" Alice said "Alice will make the preparations"

"You're the captain. Why not? Our ship is pretty much a hotel anyway." Zenith Added

"I'm still not sure, but if Madame Darcy is hurt, then we don't have much of a choice." Mercury said.

"Right then! Welcome aboard!" Blade said

"Hee hee! With all of them on board one of them is bound to bite me" Jem giggled.

"Just so long as I don't become there dinner" Nai said.

"Whatever you say, boss" Scarlet said

"Sure thing captain!" Marine said

"I'm Ok with it" Ryan said

"Whatever, your ship, your rules." Dwayne said with his arms crossed.

"I will go along with whatever you want, Dad" Ty said.

"Still getting used to that" Richter said to himself

"Cooking for so many people, it's going to be tough, but it will be ok." Lila said

"With all the people you have on board captain, you should open up your own cruise ship service." Onyx added.

"The Cramoisi are our friends, and they need us. I'm alright with it too." Jazz said.

"If you trust them, so do it. Plus I might get a chance to race with prime again" Malcolm said (Prime is what Malcolm calls sonic in case you're wondering)

"Then it settled!" Richter said "show the Chamio… I mean Cram..mo..ceee their rooms"

"Close enough, Daddy" Alice said everyone this way. Mercury and Alice walked out of the room with the Cramoisi and Raiders. Sonic and Richter we're the only one's staying behind.

"Are you sure about this. You don't have to do this you know." Sonic said

"It's like you told me, Sonic" Richter started "We have to look out for each other."

_**Meaglo Epilogue **_

A few moments, later the Richter and a few others where outside standing on the starlight hanger. "Thank you so much Mr. Sonic for helping us." Leon thanked as he was shaking his hand.

"Ahem!" Richter cleared his throat "Excuse me but it was my bro who made the bet, in the first place!"

"You have saved us from Both Soligil and Eggman Nega. We will never forget what you've done, by winning that race and stopping that Egg hydra. "Jill said.

"HEY! I was in the race too!" Richter shouted

"For gannics, you're not too bad." Allen said. "I….apologize for not trusting you, Mr. Sonic."

"UGH!" Richter slapped his hand on his head. "Well…Sonic is the main hero of the story after all…"

"Hold on" Chrome spoke "What about Lori and Toby?"

"No need to worry!" Rayen walks up with Groove and Lindsey. "I've aided both of them, giving them medical attention and heh heh heh…..let's just say…they are both much better suited for taking down the underground and the shroud."

"What…_did _ you do?" Chrome asked "It's not like we don't care about them. They are children."

"Trust me, they are fine. Lieutenant, great job with helping and during the battle. Now I have another mission for you."

"Sir?" Groove stood to attention.

"I want you to keep an eye on these guys and the two children. Captain Richter, you wouldn't mind if I had Groove here keeping tabs on you do ya?""

"What?!" Richter said taking a few steps back.

"I want him to get out and see the world. He needs a break from patrolling the city"

"But sir, what about the cobalt order. Won't they try, to do another one of those purges?" Groove asked

"We'll be fine" Leon said "Go with them. Our army can handle things, especially since Nega no longer has Megalo Station."

"Very well then. I shall accompany them"

"Well…uhhh…" Groove walked over to Richter and gave him a salute

"It will be an honor to fight by your side, General."

"*sigh* fine, but you're going in the bottom with Malcolm.

"Sir yes sir"

"Lindsey" Jill turned over to her. "I want you to go with him too."

Lindsey gasped "but Madame, what about my studies? I have to stay here and learn more about medical fields.

"All the more reason for you to go."

"but..But"

"What better way to learn more about the medical fields then to learn on the job. You can still do your studies on board the ship. And it seems that Alice will have her hands full tending to the raiders, Cramoisi, and Robieans, and those two children as well."

Lindsey looked at her for a minute, smiled and nodded. "I will not fail you Madame!"

"Good" Jill turned back to sonic and Richter "Please, take care of my Lindsey."

"Another one?" Richter said Chrome then hit his elbow in Richter's gut "OOOWWWW! That hurts!" He whined.

"Welcome aboard you two." Chrome welcomed

"Yeah, yeah I was only kidding" Richter said smiling and rubbing his belly.

"Come on everyone. We have a lot of rebuilding to do." Leon said walking back.

"Wait!" Nai stopped them. "What about….our parents?" Leon let out a big sigh and closed his eyes. Jill then walked over and grabbed the twin's hands.

"Dr. Eggman Nega…..Has kept them prisoner"

"WHAT!" the twins said in unison

"But…I thought that the Megalo council was free!" Nai shouted

"But not meteor tech industries" said Allen "As long as the CEO is captured, it still belongs to Eggman Nega.

"We did everything we could and tried to free them…but it wasn't enough." Leon added "I'm sorry"

"NO!" Jem shouted kneeling down. Richter looked at the twins who were looking down. Nai was holding Jem close who was softly weeping.

"Jem, Nai.." Chrome started "If you want to stay and try to find your parents. We will respect your decision"

Jem got up and wiped her face. "No… I want to find Nega…and deal with him myself! Are you with me Nai?

"Straight up!" Nai said "Besides…Nega was board that that flag ship. The sooner we find it the sooner we find our folks!"

"Very well" Chrome said with a smile.

"Don't worry. All of us will show that doc what happens when he messes with other families" Richter said hugging the twins by the shoulders"

"Such Spirit!" Raygen said "Good luck to you my boy! And uhhh do be careful with the children"

"Goodbye my dears. I will see you again" Jill said hugging to twins and Lindsey.

"Goodbye auntie" said the twins. All of them walked back to the ship. Richter gave one last look back at them.

"by the way." He walks back to Allen and gives him a large blue stone ring.

"This is the…" Allen spoke

"Ark of Cosmos Type "G" The original. I'm giving it back to you"

"What for…?" Allen gave Richter a suspicious look.

"Well, since Alice already made a more advice version of it anyway. We don't need it anymore. Plus I heard that having it may help with the repairs of the town. I also gave you some of our Criminal lord spoils to help with funding."

"Humph! Well since you gave it back…I guess we can let that little mishap slide."

"I'll take that as a thank you. Catch you guys later." Richter walked back to the ship as it started to take off. As it flew into the sky the council gave it one last look as it warped out of sight.

"Good luck…to all of you" Leon said looking at the ship fly off.

_**First Taste**_

Chrome and Richter, stood in the bridge, looking at the orange sky. Omega was steering the ship, while Mercury was looking at the navigational Computer. Richter turns around and walks over to a small machine, gets a cone from the side and pulls the lever and ice cream came out from the bottom. Richter then saw Darcy walk into the room still walking with her cast.

"Oh...Hi Madame" Richter greeted "How ya feeling?"

"No need to worry," She smiled "though I've been asleep for over 3000 years, I'm still pretty young I should be fine in a few days." Darcy then looked around the room with all the machines, control panels, buttons and levers. "This ship of yours is so…advance. It's nothing like I've seen"

"Oh Right….You're over 3000 years old so they must not had stuff like this before." Richter chuckled eating his ice cream. Darcy was looking at it in question.

"What..is that you are eating? She asked

Richter gasped after hearing that. "How could you not know what this is?!"

"Forgive him Madame" Chrome looked back "Richter's not so good with history. They never had ice cream 3000 years ago

"Oh….Well" Richter got out another cone and poured ice cream on it and gave it to Darcy. "Try it for yourself, all you got to do is lick it and taste the yummy sensation." Darcy looks at Richter and then back at the ice cream and starts to lick it.

"Ohh!" she gasped as she licks it again. "This is….most delicious! It's like eating a sweet piece of cold cream! I've never had such a lovely delicately!"

"The truth shall set you free, your highness" said Richter finishing it in one bite.

"OH! I must show Zerach! He'll love this!"

"Actually…uhhh…Madame…..I wanted to ask you something…about the blood shadow" Richter tried to say.

"Oh…course" We have much to talk about as well. Come, let's go join the others." Both Richter and Darcy walk out of the room. Chrome looked at Omega who was at the front of the room.

"How much longer till we reach the Holoska?" he asked

"Due to our attempt to escape without being noticed, ETA upon reaching white tundra Zone is two days 10 hours 29 minutes and 12 seconds" Omega answered.

"Huh….. We'll be flying for a while then" Chrome said

"But why?" Mercury asked

"We need to fly their without leaving any trace of an escape. Once we reach the ocean. The ship will submerge so we can escape Nega's raider." Chrome and Mercury look at the twilit sky as they were leaving the metal city. "I think it's time that Sonic and the others undergo some recognition. "Chrome then takes out a yellow gem. "Do you know if Alice finished the **device**?"

"Well yeah" Mercury said "It's been done for a while now. Why, is it..time…."

"Yup" Chrome looks at Mercury smiling. "Now we really get to see what these Cramoisi truly can do, in the botanical time chamber…."

((((TBC)))))

What a chap what a chap…just what is in store for our heroes as they begin to reach the frozen capital of White Tundra Zone? Can Nero and Kaiser be trusted? How are things going to end up as all these different people are now on board the ship?

To Be continued…don't you just love those three words. Well if you do….that makes one of us.

_**Alice's facts**_

_**What makes you tick.**_

Alice was spinning around her chair. Hello…there….and…welcome…to…Alice's…facts…" She spoke whenever she was facing the screen. She jumps off and stands on two feet, she tries to walk but then falls on her face. "Ouch!" She gets up and shakes her head. "This is Alice…and here are some facts! Today's fact…." She starts to write on a chalkboard. "Interesting stuff about Cram-Crams or Cramoisi. Now all of you know who the Cramoisi are right?"

"Yup!" Saphron started to speak. "What do you say we go around and check them out?"

"Sure!" Alice and Saphron get out and walk around the castle. "Now Alice has discovered a few things about them." Alice said For instance: though Cramoisi are vampires, the strangest thing is, is that they have many traits that don't relate to the vampires you readers come to know.

"Like the fact that we don't sound like Dracula?" Jayden asked joining the group. They enter one of the castles main halls and see many Cramoisi.

"Well that's one fact. Yup…the only difference is…for example, after Ze-Ze (Zeke) changed, she noticed that he developed a very…. small lisp.

" HEY" Tawny said coming up "Dacch…Dacch THAT"S NOT TRUE. We do not have a "shmall(Small) Lishpuh (lisp)"

"Huh….there is a tiny lisp in there.." Jayden said

"Especially when you get mad…." Alice said " Another fact; What are Cramoisi weak against? We already know that Cram-Cram's hate sun light which is why Alice made the flash walker. Also they are weak to a substance known as Nth metal. Nth metal contains a high radiation energy that is opposite to the dark matter that resides in the Cramoisi.

"In short..it's like touching a ball of acid" Tawny said

"Another things like Holy crosses" Alice turns to Ester and Garr looking at a silver cross.

Ester looks at it shining in the moon light "This belonged to my grandfather. Won't it would look nice in the room?" Garr smiles and nods.

"Water…" The others go to the castle's lake and see Meliko in a swimsuit.

"Cannon ball!" she jumps in and makes a big splash that hits Tawny, Jayden, and Saphron.

"Mirrors" Troy got splashed by the water while holding a mirror.

"AHH Watch it!" He turns around and looks back "Still good looking."

"Even garlic" Alice brings out a bag of garlic. She looks at the other Cramoisi who were up against the wall covering their noses. "Ok….so….garlic doesn't hurt them as much as nth metal and sunlight, but they can't stand the odor due of their sharper sense of smell.

"It feels like my nose is on fire!" Jayden said

"So there you have it" Alice said "All the certain weaknesses you readers may think that may cause any harm to vampires.

"What about a stake and hammer?" Jayden asked "That kills vampires too"

"A stake through the heart will kill anyone" Tawny said "Even though that won't kill us, we still feel the pain of it though….."

"What about pumpkins?!" Richter comes up holding a jack-o-lantern with some hay on top.

"Pumpkin's, daddy?" Alice asked

"Yeah you know….people put them in front of houses to scare off monsters. I wanted to make one myself. Doesn't it look cool? I made it into the most scary monster of all"

"That kind of looks like Tawny?" Saphron said looking at the hay's shape.

"What?!" She walks up looking at the pumpkin.

"Like I said, the most scary of them all" Richter looks at Tawny who was making a face simmer to the Jack-o-lantern. "Ha ha….uhhh…."

"I hope you like pumpkin pie….fairy man…" Tawny smiles at Richter while cracking her knuckles.

"Actually I'm a huge fan"

"Come here!" Tawny chases after Richter.

"Have mercy!" Richter dashes off.

"Well….that's all for Alice's facts. See ya next time!" Alice said waving


	19. Sound Vs Light: Into the Frigid Frontier

_**Broadcast**_

It was sunset in station square, people were tending to their business as usual. Everything seemed normal in the hustle and bustle of the city.

A little boy was walking down the street playing with an airplane when suddenly he sees a blue and purple puddle leading into an alley. Curious he walks in the alley following more puddles along the way. Suddenly he hears a light growl. He jumps up when he hears the trash cans rumble. He walks up to the trash can, but then suddenly sees a creature come out.

"AHHHHHH!" the boy screamed. Around town, more of these demons come out from the shadows and attack people, destroy buildings and structures, and lay ruin to anything around them. Suddenly, groups of Blue agents come out from blue portals and strike down the demons with their swords. They saved the people in danger, and brought order back to the city.

At that moment everyone could see T.V Screens and monitors show the image of a cloaked man with glowing cobalt eyes. His cloak was unveiled; It was Klaus smiling at the people.

"Greetings, people of the world" he said in a benevolent voice. "For those of you who do not know me, my Name is Lord Klaus Subros De Cobalt. " The image was everywhere, T.V.'s, computer monitors, smart phones, and tablets. "I am the leader of the cobalt order. As you may have seen, your city has been infested with dark creatures known as Vessels. They are rabid and feral beasts that thrive of flesh and misery. Who are the ones responsible for this? It's none other than Darcy, Queen of the Darkwellers known as Cramoisi. She and her hoard of vampires control these beasts and only wish for the destruction of your world. I am here to tell you that, we of the Cobalt order will not stand for this. My agents have already apprehended the Vessels of this city, but more cities will fall if something isn't done. That is why we, along with the help of the grand mafia, whom I have commandeered for such an obligation, and the Guardian Unit of Nations, have put aside our differences, and teamed up to destroy these demons known as the Cramoisi. All I ask is for your help…."

At that moment a young girl points up at the sky and sees a blue meteor fall from the sky and it the ground, unleashing a powerful blue wave in the entire city.

In an instant, people everywhere had on robes and glowing blue eyes. They all turn and look back at the broadcast.

"You all have been purified of the Cramoisi's corruption. Those of you in the white and blue, will educate the non-believers and bring them to our side, those of you in black and blue will hunt down the evil and destroy any Cramoisi you may find. Go. Fulfill your destiny and rid the world of this evil known as the Cramoisi!"

The people cheered in agreement, but then saw more Vessels come out from the ground. The agents fight off the demons, while the scholars were taking shelter.

Now the city was practically in ruins and the sky was now dark blue with silver clouds.

_**Chapter 19**_

_**Sound Vs. Light: a new chapter begins **_

_**Sonic's Prov**_

_It has been four days since our trip to Megalo station. Everyone pretty much recovered. Darcy on the other hand was still trying to get her arm healed. It's a total bummer that we had to run with our tails between our legs._

_Two days after we got patched up, Criminal Lord Jaygar insisted that we 'd train under him. And coincidentally, as we were traveling by ocean, *shivers*, the dusk raiders had this private moving island that would merge with the ships botanical garden. Not only that, but Richter and Chrome had some time machine set up in the garden, that could slow down time around it using the chaos emeralds. _

_The entire garden was a huge enclosed environment with a forest, river, and rocky hills. It was like a moving green hill zone…in the water. _

_Jaygar was a real slave driver, he gave us these collars he says that had samples of Nth metal in them. I find it hard to believe, but the others think it's true. He and the other Criminal lords have been pushing our limits and not giving an inch to any of us. _

_Now, because we've been in this dome, time has been running differently. One minute could be like a whole day in the dome or something like that…..I have to ask Tails or someone to explain this to me. _

_Anywho, we've pretty much spent a whole year in the dome, and I was about o confront Jaygar. He's gone too far and now I'm about to get some pay back. Don't believe it's been a year? Just keep reading. _

_**A/N: This section is broken down into two parts, so its not confusing I marked down where they are divided. The flashback will be italicized.**_

_**(((Terra Sunset Boarding room: Two days ago)))**_

_**Blue Purge; Basic training**_

_Jaygar was sitting right in front of a black screen after seeing Klaus' announcement. _

"_That…is what has been going on, for the past month " He was in front of Darcy, Zerach, Richter, Chrome, Sonic, Shadow, Amy, Rouge, Nero and Tono. Chip was also sitting on the table rocking back and forward. _

"_I…I don't believe it…." Amy said still looking at the blank screen. "All of Station Square and the people are now cobalt shroud members!" _

"_This is awful…" Darcy said with a bowl of ice cream in front of her. She was still injured from the large battle and recovering._

"_How many of those bowls have you had?" Zerach asked looking at her._

"_This is the fourth….Richter has so many flavors." Darcy said with a smile. _

"_Mmmm….Aha!" Chip takes out a chocolate bar._

_"Choa?" Quinn comes out of Richter's mane and sees the candy bar. He jumps down and tries to take it, but Chip lifts it in the air, preventing him from getting it, while snickering at his failure. Quinn tries to get it again, but Chip moves it once more, angering Quinn. He then tackles Chip fighting for the candy bar. _

"_We have been calling these events, __**purges. A Purge **__is when a broadcast of Klaus goes out in a city that is taken over by Vessels. During the broadcast, a blue meteor similar to the artifact you saw Klaus had, shoots down from the sky. In an instant, blue becomes everyone's favorite color" _

"_And the mortals are blindly following Klaus and his ambitions to kill the Cramoisi. And now with the Criminal underground on their side, it's only a matter of time before the majority of the world is following the cobalt order." Zerach said "This is nothing like the struggle three thousand years ago."_

"_So…we've been fighting townspeople…." Sonic wondered _

"_No…" Richter was thinking back to his checkered past, and the feeling of adding more lives to the ones he destroyed. _

"_No. the members you've been fighting were either sounders of GUN, or members of the grand mafia" Zerach explained _

"_Right. Exactly how he….wait….how would you know?" Jaygar asked the shrew_

"_Klaus would only endanger the lives of fighters and people of the military, those that were trained in combat. Though he did turn people into blue agents, and their will and power have been increased, they lack the skill to take on a Cramoisi."_

"_So…if he sent the people who were just turned before they were trained…." Sonic started to say_

"_They would drop like flies" Nero finished _

"_Correct" Zerach confirmed _

"_So he's using the vessels to give the new members a little training session"_

"_Not only that, but also frame us as the ones who released them…" Shadow added _

"_Oh sure….blame the demonic looking vampires the threat to the world; and trust the man in bath robe…how typical…." Richter complained. "Ah don't worry...I feel your pain after all. And I'm sayin because I'm a Crami…Cramo…Cramz….one of you" _

_Quinn threw Chip against a cup while knocking it down; Chip gets back up to get the candy, but Quinn stands on it growling like a dog and even snapping at him. _

_Chip then points behind Quinn; Quinn gullibly looks behind him and sees nothing. He then gets knocked off the bar as Chip got it back. Even more upset he grabs onto the bar trying to take it. Both of them were playing tug-a-war with the sweet treat. _

"_How is he even doing all this?" Rouge asked while looking at the two fighting. "You know turn all of the at once? (my Money is on Chip)"_

"_No doubt, Nega is helping him in some way" Shadow added "He and Eggman are known for…manipulation." _

"_How the devil are we supposed to compete against them?" Tono asked "six of the exen are still at large, and lets also not forget about the Trenzel, the master Criminal lords. How are we supposed to compete with that?"_

"_We have the queen of Darkness on our side, and the Echidna brothers, who are now Cramoisi themselves." said Jaygar_

"_Uhh..hello!" Sonic stood up. "Aren't you forgetting someone?"_

_"Ah yes, and we have the dark-dweller king among us" Jaygar mentioned _

"_What about me? Hello? Sonic the hedgehog, hero of Mobius and earth!"_

_The others look at Sonic; Jaygar walks up with a smirk. "How could we forget about you?"_

"_Ah of course….." Jaygar said "I admit, you are powerful. Sadly…you are no match for even one of the Exen. And other than Clangen, Lymph is considered the weakest amongst the Exen twelve. "_

"_Hey! I've been training for weeks to become a knight!" _

"_And the Exen have been trained since birth, how do you wish to comply too all their training amongst your own."_

"_Hey!" Amy stands up in front of Jaygar. "Sonic is stronger than you think! You've just never seen him at his strongest!"_

"_He is only at his strongest when he becomes Super Sonic, and to do that he would need all seven chaos emeralds. Not very resourceful…."_

_Darcy then stands up and looks at Jaygar. "I will not have you talk to Sonic that way. He is one of the knight of the Cramoisi."_

"_I…was only implying that the boy needs training" Jaygar said in a slightly nervous tone. _

"_We have been training them" Chrome said "As we said we would"_

"_And they have done such a good job" Darcy said_

"_Ah, but this time….play time is over. Because for the next few days I will be the one training them."_

"_What?!" Both Echidna brothers and Sonic gasped _

"_What better way to learn more about the criminal mind, than to have a Criminal lord to learn from. We can stat first thing tomorrow. Chrome, is the time chamber ready?"_

"_Well, yes but…." _

""_Splendid, I'll be looking forward, to the training" Jaygar walks out without another word. _

"_Wait…master…."_

"_I'd better go too" Tono said walking out of the room. "I hear that Ms. Vanilla will be making spaghetti for dinner" _

_**Sonic's Pov**_

_Ok, seriously…..has Jaygar even met me? I mean seriously __met me __met me? It's like he's never even heard of me before? A well known criminal lord doesn't even fully know what I'm capable of? So yeah, things weren't so hot before we started training. And the training regimen was even more brutal. I can't even imagine how we managed to make it through the year…well the year in dome time. As we were rapping things up in the dome, Jaygar decided to give me and my crew one last test to prove our worth. _

_**Location: ((((Terra Dome 2:53))) **_

_**Normal Pov**_

Sonic was running around the botanical environment, jumping on rocks and down ledges, using his spin dash through the water, and wall jump to jump over the waterfall.

After reaching the top of the water fall he sees three pirates jump at him, locking their guns and start firing at him.

Sonic quickly reacts by running around avoiding the bullets. He then spins into a ball and starts stirring up the wind in a tornado, blowing them away.

When the wind stops, he could see Jaygar standing firm in a large clearing, with his pistol in one hand and his sword in another.

_**Sonic's Pov**_

_This guy fights with a Blade and gun? Seriously? This is going to be cake….or…at least that's what I thought….._

_**(Terra Sunset)**_

_**Normal Pov**_

"_Oh….that's so not good" Richter said he then notices Chip and Quinn still tugging the candy bar; he walks up and grabs the candy bar from them both and breaks it in half giving them each one. _

"_So what?" Nero said "Why is it a big deal if he trains them?"_

"_Well….uhhhh…..he's…" _

"_You know what, forget it" Nero stands up and walks out. "I'll find out tomorrow."_

"_Everything is happening so fast!" Richter said. _

"_Hey! Richter, you didn't beat Renton, and you're supposed to be as strong as him" Sonic said_

"_Did you forget that I had to fight an old demon and another Exen before I fought him?! Besides….I already told you that you needed some training anyway, plus Jaygar is one of the best teachers out there. He trained me, Chrome and almost half of the other Exen."_

"_We will be there too" Zerach asked "Right Darcy? Darcy?"_

"_Another ice cream….please." Darcy asked sweetly _

"_*sigh* another lover of sweets…." Richter said giving her another flavor; Darcy starts eating it._

"_Don't tell me you love that more than me" Zerach said. _

"_Oh that is not true my love…" Darcy hugs Zerach and kisses him. The two of them were kissing and moaning while falling on the ground. _

"_Uhhh….don't you think they should have a room?" Sonic asked _

_When they both broke they each had ice cream smeared all on their muzzles. "Sorry Sonic. Perhaps it is time for you and the others to hone your skills. However, at the rate of how fast Klaus is making shroud members. We may not have a lot of time." _

"_Time…." Richter whispered "Time…is the key word…"_

_Sonic's Pov_

_Eccentric doesn't even begin to describe Richter….after he mentioned that. I spent some time thinking about what he said. It all came clear when we first stepped into a botanical environment that can slow down time. _

_**(Terra Dome)**_

Sonic was getting ready to fight as he looked at the bobcat. "You ready to quit?"

"Goodness" Jaygar looks at Sonic, wearing training uniform that was tattered and ripped up. He looked very calm as he holds up his sword up to his face. "You're quite persistent, Mr. Hedgehog . Out of all the participants in the dome, you by far are the most hardheaded, yet you have exceled admirably"

"So…" Sonic touches the collar on his neck looking at Jaygar. "You going to take this thing off?"

"Not just yet. Now we will see if you truly are worthy of the name from which the queen refers to as "Azure knight"

"Guess we will" Sonic takes out his blue jema on his gauntlet; the jema breaks apart in seven parts.

Two parts merge with his knees becoming kneecaps, two more become elbow guards, one piece becomes a head guard, another becomes a breast plate, and the last one forms into his blue sword. A second white jema comes out and becomes a metal shield.

"Let's do this" Sonic arms himself.

_**((((Criminal Lord Boss: **__**Bind Exen**__** Jaygar)))) **_

"En guard" Jaygar instantly disappears and reappears in front of Sonic while shooting his pistol.

Sonic quickly responds, by putting his shield up, blocking the shot. He then jumps back and swings his sword at Jaygar…

but Jaygar deflects the attack….

"Wind blade! "Sonic then jumps back and into the air and swings his sword in the air.

It wasn't easy to see, but Sonic's swings made a crescent shape gust of wind that felt as sharp as the sword itself. However, each gust of wind just blows through Jaygar as if he was a ghost.

"What?" Sonic jumps down and walks up to Jaygar and moves his hand right through him. "A fake.." He was seeing an illusion of Jaygar that disappears.

In an instant he feels a cold piece of metal up against his neck.

"Oh, Sonic…after all this time….you still fall for that trick" Jaygar was right behind him about to subdue him with his sword.

"That makes two of us…" Sonic smiles unknown to Jaygar who felt something sharp hit him against his back making him loosen his grip. Sonic then jumps free and turns to face Jaygar.

Jaygar turns around and sees small pieces of rock leaves and grass with sharp edges, and picks one up "Extraordinary"

Sonic then kicked Jaygar while his back was turned; Sonic was about to swing his sword, but Jaygar quickly turned around blocking the attack. "Don't get cocky; I'm old, not slow"

"I'm anything but slow, or not cocky!" Sonic keeps swinging his sword at the bobcat with full force without giving an inch. "I run at the speed of sound"

"Ah yes…." Jaygar continues to swing his sword, and eventually pushes Sonic down to the ground. "But….I have the power of light. And light is faster than sound"

"Not today" While on the ground, Sonic swings his leg at Jaygar making a whirlwind from his right greave, blowing Jaygar on the ground

Jaygar smiles and regains his traction while swinging his sword in different ways.

"Small partials burn; photon!" A large ball of light burns around Sonic bringing him down.

As Jaygar was about to deliver the final blow, he almost gets burned by a sudden fireball that shot right at his feet. He turned his left to see Tails arming an arm cannon. "A new weapon?" The bobcat asked while looking at the fox walk up to Sonic.

"You ok, Sonic?" the fox asked looking at Sonic get up.

"Never better"

"A little over confident aren't we? UHHH!" Jaygar gets hurled in the air by a stalagmite in the ground. Then from the rocks below, came a pink blur holding a hammer.

Amy comes out and swings her hammer at Jaygar, but her hammer goes right through Jaygar, and sees him disappear. She then uses her wings to hover in the air and look around.

"_I got him right here_"

Amy looks down and sees Knuckles out of the ground trapping Jaygar with four stalagmites from the ground. Jaygar's body was trapped against the pillars of land coming from the ground.

"He wanted you to think he was flying off, but I got the real one right here!" Knuckles explained.

"Aww…my illusions are not working anymore…." Jaygar uttered with a small hint of satisfaction. "by the way, this is some quality rock, my boy. It even rivals that to Richter's mole mound technique"

Knuckles felt confident about himself, but it didn't last long. Jaygar was mysteriously blown out of the rock formation. Knuckles was surprised to see the rocks crumble into little pebbles.

"WHAT?!"

Jaygar dusts himself off while holding up his pistol at the stunned echidna and fired a few shots at Knuckles.

Knuckles was about to dodge the bullets, but suddenly they were blocked by a large shield.

Julie had come holding a shield as big as her protecting Knuckles and firing a few shots from her double barrel pistol.

Jaygar uses his sword to deflect his own shots. Though they came fast, to Jaygar he could see the bullet come at him like a young boy throwing him a ball.

Sonic and the others beating Jaygar, was no simple task.

"You're fast, girl." He spoke like a gentleman "But is it enough?"

Jaygar swings his sword several times unleashing crescent shape beans of light at the echidnas.

Julie smiles while lifting her hands causing two large steel spikes to come out from that protects the two echidnas by absorbs the light attacks. Jaygar then sees a bright light attack come from the spikes. Jaygar then absorbs his own attack by shielding himself with his sword. "Ah, you don't know how long is has been since I have seen a natural steel move done by a natural steel user. Well done."

As Sonic was getting up he could feel a soothing aura surround him. He turns around and sees Cosmo holding a green staff emitting a green aura. "Hey! Nice work!"

Cosmo gives him a light giggle, but then she jumps in shock when she sees Jaygar jump back down and about to attack her. She then reaches to the ground and summons vines that come up from the ground and grab Jaygar by the arms and legs. "Uhhh! You…" Jaygar was trapped by the vines hardly able to move.

"Finish him off!" Cosmo told Sonic.

Sonic nods and jumps at Jaygar who wasn't moving. He stares into his eyes that start to glow bright white, and blast out a laser beam that hits Sonic in the eyes.

He shouts and falls to the ground covering his eyes. Cosmo runs over to Sonic to check on him, little that she knew, she breaks her concentration from Jaygar who mamages to wiggle one of his hands free and draw his sword cutting himself down.

Amy dashes over to him and swings her massive hammer, but Jaygar does it at the very last second. Amy growls in rage and swings her hammer right at Jaygar; Jaygar reacts by blocking the attack with his sword.

Amy looks at him in rage. "You cheater! How dare you shoot Sonic in the eyes?! I thought you fought with honor!"

"True, my little hedgie. But…I also fight to win. I am a man of class…." Jaygar's eyes glow white again and he shoots Amy in the eyes as well, blowing her away. She falls on the ground covering her eyes from the pain. She doesn't see Jaygar walk up to him with his sword in hand. "…but first and foremost I'm a pirate"

Suddenly Jaygar hears a ear-drum piercing shriek come from above. Rouge came flying down, unleashing a high pitched scream at Jaygar.

Sonic opens his eyes; at first his vision was blurry, but his vision slowly starts to come back into focus. Cosmo was holding Amy's face healing her eyes.

Sonic then sees Rouge jump down and look back at him and the others. Her eye irises and pupils were a grayish-white, yet she was looking at him as if she could see clearly. "Didja miss me, big blue?" she asked.

"Hey! You can see me" Sonic was impressed, despite the fact that Rouge was visually impaired.

"You had chili dogs for lunch." She then turns to Jaygar who was picking his ears after they were blasted. "Alright old man. Give me back my sight!"

"Very resourceful, Rouge!" Jaygar shouts at the top of his lungs. "Hindering your opponent can lead to a very swift victory! I guess I should have seen that one coming! "

"We can hear , you know!" Sonic shouted back

"Teen span near tumor? What in blazes does that mean?!" Jaygar laughed. Though he was partially deaf, he was glad to see how everyone has progressed. "It will take more than that to bring me down!" The fight wasn't over yet. He then fires his pistol at group, forcing them to scatter.

To his surprise he was hit by a kick from out of nowhere. Jaygar was kicked into the air. What was strange is that the kick came from the a swirling purple and black hole in the air.

Running out from the whole came Blaze, who then jumps in the air ready to kick Jaygar once more, but Jaygar counters by grabbing her leg and throwing her to the ground. Jaygar lands on his feet and looks at Sonic and the group with their weapons ready. "This is quite fun" Jaygar spoke as if he could hear again. "You lot are lasting much longer than the echidna brothers did when I first battled them"

"But you still won't deem us as masters?" Sonic asked

"Nope" Jaygar said carelessly.

"How about this?! Gravity trap! Negative 40g!" Silver said. Jaygar was sent flying into the air helpless. He couldn't even move due to all the pressure pushing around him.

As he was slowly wiggling from Silver's gravity pull, Blaze then jumps up with her Lance and swings at Jaygar, but Jaygar shoots her hand making her drop her lance. He then breaks from Silvers hold and kicks her in the chest sending her back down on the ground.

"Blaze!" Silver runs up to her; she was in a crater in the ground.

"I'm fine" Blaze gets up and grabs her lance, but stops while cringing in pain.

"I can help you" the two of them look down and see Cream walk up with a small wand with a sphere on it. She then waves it around making a small wave of light, healing Blaze.

"Whoa..thanks…" Blaze said smiling at the rabbit.

"That felt different from a normal gravity trap" Jaygar spoke in a normal tone. "I can see you amplified your new found gravity along with your Pscyhokinesis. You should know by now that manipulating the magnetic polarities around you is much more different than twisting spoons with your mind."

"Yeah…I do" Sliver answered

"And you…" Jaygar looks down at Cream "Fighting isn't for you? That's fine. Someday you will be a great fighter as you are a healer. Cream just looks at him waiting for his next move

From below, Jaygar could see a dark mass in the form of shady tentacles grab him and drag him back to the ground. He looks up and sees a figure come out from the darkness.

It was Shadow wearing the same armor as Sonic only his was black instead of blue. He and Sonic hold their swords up to Jaygar's neck.

"Checkmate" Shadow said to Jaygar as he looks back at him.

"Are you sure?"

Jaygar aims his eyes in the sky. The two hedgehogs eyes widen as they saw hundreds of glowing lances pointing down at them and the group. "All it takes with one more inch and my holy lances would have run straight through you. Though you did not land a blow with your sword, you performed….adequately. Nice work, Sonic the hedgehog, to you and your team."

Jaygar sends a few of his lances down to free him from the dark tentacles, he then disappears out of sight.

_**((Terra Sunset))**_

"_Oh we are going to have time" Richter said "There is one way to hone your skills with such little time….but it's pretty bold…..I just need three chaos emerald.." Richter takes out a blue one and shows it to everyone. "Of course….I did have four…till someone took one of them!" Richter looks at Rouge. "You got a lot of nerve taking something from a master thief"_

"_Thank you" Rouge said with pride_

_Richter comes up to Rouge's face "And another thing! I…" Shadow stood up looking at Richter with a deadly gaze. "I..aye…aye…..you're lucky I had it open for cleaning. _

"_What do you need three emeralds for? " Sonic asked_

"_You'll have to find out tomorrow….right now…I'm hungry! I'm going to the mess!"_

"_Hey wait!" it was too late Richter was already gone. _

_**(Terra Dome)**_

"Huh?!" Sonic looks around for the bobcat.

In an instant they were warped from where they stood and back to the center of the base were there was a large red and gray machine with a large screen and three different slots for chaos emeralds. Richter was in front of the machine's screen while Chrome was standing next to him.

"mmmmm…" Richter stops typing while looking at his gloved hand. "Hey….ever wonder why everyone is always wearing gloves?" he asked looking at Chrome. "And why is it that mine, yours, and Knuckles' gloves are the only ones that have spikes? And how is it I'm typing so well, if my gloves look like boxing gloves? Do I even have fingers?"

Chrome just stares at him with his eyes half open, but then he looks at his hands as well. "To be honest…I've wonder that myself….mmmm….."

While both echidnas try to figure out the ultimate question, Jaygar was sanding with Darcy and Zerach looking at the other fighters. the other Cramoisi and raiders were all standing in a large group, behind Sonic. He and the others sit on their knees looking at Jaygar holding a device.

The Cramoisi subjects and raiders were all wearing the same uniform. Each one a different color representing their element.

"All of you have progressed well" he started "And you already excelled past the learners training, and on your way to becoming true masters"

"So you and I _are_ at the same level?" Sonic asked hoping he as right

Jaygar laughed and let out a sigh. "No. Not even close. But you are well on your way. Maybe after this next Terra Dome year, you may be as good as Richter, if you already aren't. Now we are to discuss the next phase of your training for the upcoming year, or day depending on how long it's been outside of this dome.

"Wait…a minute…" Amy stands up "You said you'd take these collars off"

"Yeah...I'm tired of Nith metal on my neck!" Knuckles complained

Jaygar lets out a smile and reaches out for a remote control." Perhaps you have been suffering long enough" He pushes the button which disengages the collars and detaches it from their necks.

"Great….Now for payback!" Knuckles jumps at Jaygar about to punch him, but he jumps back and grabs Knuckles' head, staring into his eyes.

Knuckles' sight was suddenly was over taken by darkness, but that didn't stop him. Jaygar steps back and looks at the echidna as he tries to hit him, but he was sadly hitting a tree. "Take that and that and that!"

"Oh brother…." Julie slaps his face looking t Knuckles.

Jaygar scoffs at him and looks at the others who were glaring at him for the deed he's done. "Oh don't gawk. Think of it this way, you're stronger now. You may even be able to take on every criminal lord in existence….except me of course."

"Uh…aren't you forgetting something?" Rouge points at her eyes

"Oh!' Jaygar laughs while snapping his fingers. In an instant Rouge's and Knuckle's sight started to come back. At first everything was blurry, but it later starts to clear up, yet everyone she looked at was still fuzzy. "You should get your full sight back in less than hour. Be sure to stay clear of bright lights and camera flashes.

"Why would you give us nith metal collars, knowing it could harm us or kill us?" Tails asked

"I would like to know that myself" Darcy steps up to Jaygar glaring at him. "You have no evil intentions yet you harm my children?"

"First of all, because I am a 52 year old Exen Criminal lord who wanted to have some fun." Jaygar chuckled "And second all of you have a major challenge ahead of you. All of you will soon be up against the marrcoats and the other five Exen. Now that you have spent a whole year of pushing through the pain, you can take this time to heal, rest, and ready yourselves for more training."

"It wasn't necessary to threaten me or my children."

"All of you are still standing, right?"

Darcy glares while growling at him but she then smiles. "You know something, you are right Perhaps I should thank you."

"Why…thank you! It's nice to get some appreciation from…AHHH!" Jaygar was interrupted by the intense pain on his foot.

Darcy was still smiling while stepping on his foot. She then trust her elbow in Jaygar's gut, and finally punching him in the face.

"DAH!" Jaygar was now on the ground with a black eye swelling. He looks at Darcy who was still smiling.

"Consider yourself appreciated" Darcy said

Everyone then heard an alarm coming from the machine. "What's going on?"

Richter was at the main console of the machine typing on the keyboard. "This is definitely the opposite of good." Richter looks back at the others.

"What's wrong now?" Chrome asked annoyed "Did you push something that you shouldn't have?"

"NO! Uhh…you might want to delay that statement, Master. Our two day duration seems to be up" Richter's eyes were shifting as he looks at the keyboard typing rapidly. "Yet I still wonder how I do it, with no fingers showing…."

"What?!" Jaygar quickly gets up and walks to the machine at the machine. He was looking at different codes and formulas as was Richter.

"What does that mean?" Sonic asked walking up as well.

"It means _someone_ didn't punch in the right calculations so that the machine would alter the time right. So instead of two years in two days, he put _one _year and two days" Chrome looks directly at Richter tapping his foot.

"I don't get it" Sonic said "Don't you just have to put in the number of days and hours you want to stay in here?"

"No…" Alice told Sonic "You have to calculate the amount of time right down to every millisecond, and then calculate the number of hours days and years into different time and space formulas in order for you to manipulate time around one area."

Richter took a moment to glare at his brother. "I don't understand…" Richter looks back at the computer. "I punched in all the right numbers…did all the work."

"I doubt it' Chrome spoke with his arms crossed "Did you check your work?"

"Twice!" Richter scrolls through complex equations and formulas on the screen. Alice comes up and looks at the formulas as well. She then exclaims while pointing at the screen at one formula that was blinking.

"mmm?" Richter looks at it as well with his eyes widen and his mouth wide open. "DAHH HA!" Richter falls down and rolls around having a small tantrum. Everyone was even more confused as the look at the echidna whining and mumbling indistinct words.

"What's wrong with him?" Sonic asked looking at him flail his fist.

Tails looks at the screen and looks at one of the formula's blink red. "I see the problem."

"What?"

"He…forgot to put in a negative in one of the formulas….I hate it when that happens. I lost three planes because I forgot to put in the right signs" Tails explained to his blue friend while looking at the whining echidna.

"THOSE DAMN SIGNS! *sob*" Richter cried

Alice stood there with her arms crossed "Alice told you to let her do it…but noooo. Daddy wanted to be Mr. Einstein"

"Well can't you reset the machine?" Amy asked Chrome

"No, the machine is already overheated since it's been on for two days straight" At that moment the machine makes a loud boom. "And it may take a week for us to fix it. We are going to have to bring it with us when we leave the island."

"*Sigh* Jaygar looks down in disappointment. "Well this is most unfortunate. I was…looking forward to continuing our training…."

"Looks like we will have to cut our training short, Master"

"Wait! What happened to training me to become a wind master?" Sonic reminded

Jaygar turns around to look at him. "That can still happen, Sonic. Did you think the Exen became masters because of me? No, I just got them started. They worked hard and persevered and learned their elements on their own, and gained the title "master". I kindled the fire, now it's up to you to keep it ablaze and turn it into a roaring flame"

The clock on the machine hit zero and everything in the room starts to slow down but then later speeds up. All the doors were unsealed; the machine makes a loud hissing noise before powering down.

"That's all she wrote…." Chrome stated. He could see a botanical base's doors open up allowing them to leave.

"Thanks for the help, Master" As Sonic shook his hand they heard clapping in the back ground. "Even though you were a slave driver the whole time"

"Sonic….I didn't teach you anything you didn't already know"

"Like I haven't heard that before" Sonic rolls his eyes but still smiles.

"You have no idea how right he is…" Sonic looks behind Jaygar and sees the mysterious blush white elf sanding amongst the crowd.

"What?" Sonic turns his head to look at him "What are you talking about"

"What is who talking about?" Jaygar turns around but doesn't see the blue-white elf.

Sonic looks again, but doesn't see him. "That tricky devil"

"Why thank you. You know, many people don't agree with my methods. Why there have been some who run home crying because of it. But you persevered. I'm proud of you all….now go out there and bring down the Cobalt order"

Sonic nods while bowing to Jaygar who bows back. "Good luck…Sonic the Hedgehog."

_**Training Epilogue **_

Sonic and his friends come on out of the room and look around. Silver looks around in the hallway of the ship, but did not see much change. "Hey…the ship isn't wreaked or anything…" Silver said

"It's only been a two days outside" Mercury walks out with the other dusk raiders. "In the dome, it's been a whole year"

"Yeah…" Sonic looks at his friends and sees some changes to them.

Tails looked a few inches taller with longer bangs, Cream and Rocky were also taller.

Blaze and Rouge's hair was longer as longer, and Shadow had a scar on his left eye. Sonic didn't change much, his spines were longer and his gloves and shoes were ruffled and tattered. His hair was also ruffled.

"We are going to have to get you a new pair…" Amy said coming up and hugging him.

"I've had these for so long…" No doubt that losing his speed shoes were like losing a best friend.

"That's one of the side effects unfortunately" the hedgehogs turn to Mercury whose hair was actually shorter than normal. She had cut it just a few inches after it got down to her waist. Now it was all the way down to her shoulders. "Your body ages another year as a year goes by in the Terra dome"

"How many times did you say you went in there?" Silver asked

"This generation has only been in it once before, when the code was taped in right. I look 21, but I'm actually 20"

"So I'm now 18?" Sonic asked in shock.

(The Radiant Dark series takes place three years after Sonic's adventures for those who forgot)

"Physically" Mercury stated

"Maybe you shouldn't go in there again" Silver said a little worried

Tails was looking back in the dome and back out in the hall. He then starts to shiver a little while seeing a sliver of his breath. The others start to shiver as well.

"We've gotten closer to the arctic ring" Mercury said. "We should be boarding in less than five hours.

"Great!" Richter comes out leaning on Sonic and Amy. Then let's go to the mess hall. Ms. Vanilla might be making hot chocolate!" Richer goes dashing off.

Sonic and Amy shrug their shoulders and follow the echidna. "Well blue boy, you didn't make it through the full training program, but you managed to learn a lot, haven't you?" Richter asked

"Yeah…I guess I did" Sonic admitted. He has been known to be as fast as the wind, but thanks to the training he has done, he now feels as if he has become one with the wind itself. I never knew our powers were so complex to use. I thought it just involved being in shape and knowing a move or two"

"Maybe you will take a hard thinking person like me seriously now. BWA HA HA!" Richter laughed

Sonic gave Richter a blank stare "Don't push it"

"Yeah!" Amy shouted "You were just as bad! You practically had me eating mud!"

"What? It's just wet dirt" He looks back at Amy who was seriously enraged looking at the echidna. "Ok Ok….and don't worry about the chamber….we'll fix the machine and get it working better than ever. We may even be able to do five years in five days! Won't that be cool?! Sure we'll be older than normal, but with age comes wisdom and experience. We'll get to work on it right after we finish business at the **Frigid Frontier** in **White Tundra Zone."**

"Thanks Richter, but I don't need it." Sonic admitted

"What?! Why? You could become a master sooner than you think…."

"Dude, that island is just an acre big. I need more space than that. I need wide and open areas so I can understand the wind more."

"Actually…it's 100 acres." Richter then clears his throat and looks at Sonic smiling. "Now those are the words of a true master. You're learning blue boy, maybe you will become a master faster than I did."

"Really?"

"Fat chance! BWA HA HA!" Richter stops to laugh. "Or maybe so….you'll never know. Now, before we step into the cold, what do you say we enjoy some hot chocolate and funnel cake? My treat!"

When he opens the door to the mess hall, his jaw drops to the floor. Everyone else jumps in shock at what they saw. The entire mess hall was a _real _mess hall. There was cake batter, frosting, and other sweet food everywhere.

"AHHHHHHH! HAAAAAA!" Richter screamed at the top of my lungs. "My kitchen….my mess hall *gasp* my one of a kind fancy cake! What in the name of Davy Crocket's sweaty butt skins is going on?!"

"Language, Richter" Onyx reminded.

"Oh my God!" Amy sees a few of the chaotx members all subdued by some form of sweets.

Vector was baked in a large cake. "Get me out of this thing!"

Espio and Mighty were covered in powdered sugar with purple marks on their head smiling.

Charmy and Ray were caught in a large web of taffy.

"Mommy!" Cream runs over to Ms, Vanilla who was laying on one of the turned over tables with her blouse torn showing her belly button and her dress torn showing her knees. "Are you ok?"

"Is that you, Cream?" She asked with her voice shaking. "It was dreadful…."

Cream then turns over to Vector with her eyes glaring. "What did you do to her?"

"It wasn't me!" the trapped crocodile uttered trying to get out of the fluffy pastry. "Get me out of her and I'll explain!"

"Uhhh…guys…." Tails looks at Espio and Mighty who were just smiling looking up and not saying a word.

"Get us down!" Charmy exclaimed to Knuckles.

"T-this taf-f-fy is writing up….." Stuttered Ray

"Who did this?" Amy asked looking at everyone.

"NO-Ho-ho!" Sonic hears familiar crying.

He looks at the serving table and sees Chip crying over Quinn; his body was covered in red. "He was so young! Why!"

"OH NO!" Richter runs over to Quinn. "No no no! Quinn!" Richter kneels down crying hysterically.

Amy looks at Richter with her eyes shaking. She felt so sorry for him, seeing his chao in his condtion. She walks up and rubs the top of his head. As she was about to weep she caught the scent of something. She touches Quinn's body and smells the red liquid. She then takes a taste of it and looks down at Richter.

"It's….it's just cherry filling" Amy said relieved

"I know!" Richter shouted while looking at Chip who was still weeping. "who did this to my pal. He will suffer!"

Richter then feels a smack to the back of his head. "You idiot! I thought you were crying because he was dead!"

"NO! I was crying because he lost a food fight….we were going to do one together….but now he may never fight again….." Quinn wakes up and looks at Richter while reaching out his hand. "What is it pal? You can speak to me…." He holds his hand with weepy eyes.

"Choa chao chao…." He said while falling back to sleep.

"You bet I'll avenge you!"

"Oh Malcolm…." Out of all the grotesque and stage things in this room, what was truly strange was seeing Malcolm on all fours with his bottom up in the air and Groove, the new hedgehog robian, standing with his waist nearly up against Malcolm's behind holding his torso. Chrome and Sonic look at him shaking their heads.

"This…is not what it looks like captain" Malcolm said with his head turned at them trying to move, but it was as if his hands were glued on to the floor.

Chrome looks at his crew member shaking his head "I know you were excited about having another robian on board…but I this might be too excited"

"Believe me sir" Groove spoke "I can assure you this isn't what it seems."

"I always though I liked girls…" Sonic looks at Malcolm while scratching his head.

"We can explain" Groove said "Please, just remove that paper on the ground"

_**What grows inside. **_

Lori was still in the garden training along with the other humans. She was swinging a sword in the air perfecting her stance.

"Aren't you done yet?" Jayden asked while laying against a rock.

"*sigh*" Lori sighs out of exhaustion and sits with him. The other human children were perfecting their skills. Tawny was making a small discharge of electricity with her hands, Saphron was sitting in the middle of a patch of flowers making for them to grow, and Toby was meditating while standing on a stump.

"Man it will be so good to get out of here" Ty was adjusting his arm making sure everything was in order. "My body feels like it's a bag of ice…."

"Bet you can feel all your robot parts now, huh?" Saphron asked making a Lei. And walking up to Jayden putting it on his neck.

"Yeah…" Ty feels around his body. Some of it was still organic, but his arms, and his spine were all mechanical.

"Do you feel stronger now?" Jayden asked

"Yeah….but I still wish we could have trained for another year." Lori said in disappointment.

"Ah don't worry" Tawny sees an apple in the tree and brings it down using a strings of electricity. "I'm sure we can take down a whole army!" she said while taking a bite.

In a gust of wind, Zeke appears behind Tawny trying to sneak up on her."

"I know it's you, Zeke"

Zeke steps back in shock and walks up in front of her. "How did you know it was me?"

"I can smell your shampoo….brown sugar and cinnamon?"

"I like the smell of Christmas cookies…"

"HI!" Alice comes up to everyone while standing on two legs. Lori and Jayden look at Alice slowly walk over to them, but she then trips on Lori.

"Please get off…." Lori said strained feeling as if she was holding a massive piece of lead.

"Ohhh….forget this… Alice is going to crawl" Alice gets up and falls on all fours

"You were doing so well walking on your own" Lori stated "Nero really taught you well"

"Speaking of standing…." Alice looks at Lori's legs. "How is it you're walking around? Weren't your legs and arm amputated?"

"Raygen….he restored them…." Lori looks down in thought. Since her fight in Megalo Station she thought her fighting days were over, but now she could move around like normal again. However, she still felt shy showing her arm and legs to her friends.

Still she pulls up her sleeve showing everyone her arm. Jayden was shock to see that it was restored as if it was never cut to begin with.

"That's…amazing!" he said

"Yup…" Lori's tone had some doubt, but she was able to muster a smile while looking at her cousin.

"Has anyone seen Lin-Lin?" Alice asked looking at everyone shrug their shoulders.

Not too far from where they were, near the greenhouse in the botanical base. (Redundant I know) Lindsey had gathered plants and started concocting potions and medications. She was mumbling to herself measurements and writing them down in her logbook.

She then hears one of the pots fall and crash. She turns around and looks to find the cause, when she didn't hear anyone she turns back to her work. She then hears another crash and turns around scared.

"Whoever is in here, please show yourself…." She said walking away from the table. She slowly walks deeper in the green house while reaching for a small shovel. "Why did I have to be on a ship of pirates?"

She slowly walks deeper in the house not hearing another sound. She was then finally looking at all of Jem's flowers assorted nicely. She could see that some of the pots were somehow knocked down.

She then looks at a certain flower that was a large bud that was glowing a shade of blue and dark purple. She was over taken by the plants vibrant glow and starts walking closer. She then sees the bub glow bright, and then slowly grow larger. Her eyes were shaking as the bud sprouts and blossoms.

"YAHHHHHH!" The human children hear a scream in the greenhouse.

They wasted no time and dashed over inside where they see Lindsey on the floor quivering. Jayden tries to see what's wrong. All Lindsey did was point over at the plants. They saw a figure slowly walk over to them; they could see a pair of glowing blue eyes and something glowing on his chest.

Jayden was the first to walk over to the figure. "Who-who are you?"

The figure did not say anything all It did was lay on the ground, not moving an inch.

_**Bittersweet….**_

Tails was walking along with Cosmo and Jem in the hallways. "Thank you guys so much for helping me out with my garden. I feel as if I haven't seen them in forever…."

Many of the raiders had spent two years in the terra dome, but due to the time flux in the dome, it seemed as if it had been a full year, since anyone in the dome has seen anything or anyone.

Cosmo smiles at the robian hedgehog as she was walking, but then looks down in thought. She thinks back to when she walked in the garden house last time. The particular flower that she saw. Tails was thinking the same thing, there was no doubt about it, he had seen it somewhere before.

"Something wrong, guys?" Jem asked

"Jem" Cosmo looks at her with serious eyes. "Where did you get that mysterious flower? The one with the purple bud?"

Jem jumps at the very mention of the flower. "Oh..I…I found it in an abandoned school. It….it looked so lonely….it was just growing there in one of the old rooms, in a patch of dirt with just a glint of sunlight to keep it alive. It…it felt light it was calling to me. Why do you ask?"

Tails and Cosmo look at each other and start whispering. Cosmo then turns to Jem and looks at her in the eye. Just as soon as she was about to say something, Cosmo feels something in her chest. She inhales deep through her nose and looks around.

"What's wrong?" Tails asked

"I…I sense something. Something strange. A feeling I haven't felt since…" Just then Cosmo as a vision of a mechanical machine with one green eye and a few others similar to it. "No….it can't be…" Cosmo kneels down covering her head and shivering.

_**Meanwhile…**_

Hours later Sonic, Silver and Knuckles were in the lounge area looking at the ceiling. After such a long time in the dome, they hardly had time to relax.

As Sonic was looking up he sees Chip fly above him. "Hey, Sonic. Guess what."

"Time for me to get some sleep?" Sonic said closing his eyes, but Chip flies down and opens his eye lids.

"I can feel the Gaia gate in this region. So let's go and seal it off." The spirit encouraged

"Cant it wait?" Sonic said about to fall asleep. "I'm too tired to even move…"

"If that's true then why are you talking?"

"You know what I…..GAH!" Sonic jumps from his couch to look at Richter. "Oh Richter….what do you want?" Sonic had gotten use to Richter's sudden appearances

"We're going to white tundra, aren't you thrilled?"

"yeah sure….after a whole year of dealing with Jaygar, why not? Chip how many more gates are there?"

"I already told ya, three….or is it four….five….I can't remember exactly…..but I know there is one here, and we have to seal it away before the spawn take over the city.

"Ah…the icy continent of Holoska." Richter uses his Cramoisi power to change his clothes. He was now wearing an orange Eskimo hoodie jacket. "Though 60 percent of the continent is nothing but a barren ice wasteland, the 40 present is where the people of the frigid frontier resign. That place is a wonderful holy land that once belonged to an ancient light tribe. The knowledge of the original tribe is long and forgotten, but the descendants of their disciples still study their ancient ways as they bathe themselves in the northern light that glows bright in the sky"

As Richter turns back to see look at the three they were all asleep, except Chip. Richter just stares with a small sweat drop coming down his face. "Do they have something sweet there too?"

"Well….their ice fudge is known to be a real treat. It's natural chocolate with nuts and solid bits of chocolate that has been chilled with the perfect ice that can only be found there."

"Alright! What are we waiting for?!" Chip cheering waking everyone up and hearing them moan.

_**The Ice City**_

The ship moves in the water into a massive ice cave. The cave was nearly five-hundred feet tall with small ice bergs floating in the water. He docks at an abandoned harbor in a large ice cave. The ship's side flight of stairs opens up and Jaygar and his crew were the first to walk out.

"Master, where is the Trenzil?" A big rat asked Jaygar.

"Not yet, Borson. First we must get into town, and alert the mafia bureaucrat. Once we talk with him, then we can find the Trenzil. If we are going to do this right, we need the Trenzil's approval."

"Then youse better make sure this bureaucrat ain't tryin' no funny business." (The mouse has that Jersey accent)

"Not to worry…." Jaygar looks back at the ship and smiles. "Once the bureau finds that I brought the son of Solairte, he won't lay a finger on me."

Sonic was the first Cramoisi to step out. He hadn't forgotten to put on his flash walker, so he can hide in plain sight from the locals. Silver was the next to come out and then was Knuckles.

"Wow….." Amy looks at the large frozen cavern while walking out herself. There were ice pillars coming from the ocean water, making a reflection that made the cavern glow. "I don't remember being in this part of the continent before….."

"Yeah…looks pretty…." Knuckles said staring at the water. Amy and Julie step out and look around.

"So…all we have to do is find the gate right and seal it off?" Amy asked "Then our first step is to find the cathedral. So, where can we find it?"

"The **temple of ice**" Sonic said looking at the abandoned harbor. "I remember coming here last time when I was trying to put the planet back together. There was an old frozen church that I found along the way"

"You sure about that?"

"yeah, as the werehog I didn't go very fast. So I took the time to enjoy the sights."

"Then let's find the gate and seal it already" Knuckles said getting impatient. "We got no information of there being a Criminal lord here, so we should be out of here in no time at all."

"Sonic!" Sonic heard Jaygar call out to him "Could you come here please?"

Sonic walks forward up to the white rose guild only to be surprised at the next sight. He saw his crew being held up by white snow wolves in armor who had rifles pointed at them. All the members of the guild had their hands behind their head, not moving.

"Sonic…" Amy walks up and holds his shoulder. Sonic just winks and walks up to the wolves.

"Alright guys" the wolves pay attention to the blue hedgehog as he walks up to the leader. "Look, if we all just sit down and talk about this…I'm sure we can...UGH!"

The wolf holds up his speared riffle right at Sonic's belly. "Hands were I can see them!"

"What?!" Sonic said giving the wolf an awkward stare. The wolf orders him again to put his hands up. Sonic sighs out of annoyance and puts his hands behind his head.

"That goes for the rest of you" A wolf comes over and points their rifles at the other three.

"It seems as if I've gotten myself into a pickle…" Jaygar said to Sonic from the front.

"So I see…" Sonic sighed

"Something wrong blue…..NEEAHHH!" Richter sees all kinds of wolves come up to him with their rifles. "You dare point a gun at.. GAHH!" Sonic and his friends stare in horror as they see Richter get hit by the blast from the rifle. Richter falls to the ground holding his body while shivering. The gun's fire didn't kill him, it just gave him an immobilizing pulse through his system.

"Restrain him" the leader said sending his comrades to handcuff Richter.

"Captain!" Some of the other raiders come out, but then end up getting hit by the rifle as well. Some of the raiders who came out were shot to the ground, immobilized like Richter.

"What is the meaning of this?" Darcy comes walking out with the rest of the Cramoisi and raiders looking at their fallen comrades. The leader wolf walks up and points his gun at the two. He was a white wolf with white western-style armor and wearing a steel mask coving his eyes and ears.

"In the name of the Idiavolk forces; I'm placing you all under arrest" he said in a young voice. "Come quietly and peacefully."

**((((TBC)))))**

_Ohhhhh wasn't excepting that were you? Ohh man this is going crazy…eh…anywho hope you enjoy the next chap and this one. _

_Also, tune in to the next chapter to find out what the heck happened while Sonic and the others were in the Terra Done. _

_**Alice's Facts**_  
><em><strong>((BGM: Tornado~To Spagonia )))<strong>_

_**What is the Terra Sunset**_

Outside of the terra sunset ,standing at the bow, on top of a rail, Alice was standing with her arms spread out tasting the air.

"I'm Queen of the worl-WHAAA!" Alice trips and falls off the edge into the sky.

"HA HA! Fooled ya didn't she?"

Alice was hanging on the rail, with her tail coiled around it. "Hello readers. It's Alice here with some more facts. This chapter's fact…is the Terra sunset! The word Terra, meaning earth and sunset simply means, an earth sunset, which is a normal sunset. Duh! Now it's time for a tour"

"First, distance and diameter" Alice lets go of the rail and starts falling from the ship. "This ship, is almost four kilometers long, and three hundred meters wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide!"

She continues to fall and takes out a long metal bar that turns into a purple glider. "So it literally is a city on a ship. You could lost for days, weeks even! She then flies through the air around the large ship.

"If you want to picture the Terra sunset, picture an orange and crimson ship cruise ship with small wings on the bottom top and sides and a large glass dome in the back. Kind of like a mix between the Egg carrier from Sonic Adventure and Sonic 06. The design is based on the various battleships that were made by Dr. Eggman, with a few modifications Alice added, by salvaging broken ship parts. Some which come from a cruise ship, which explains all the different rooms on board. A lot of you may also be wondering about the botanical garden as well. Well that large glass garden is located at the very back of the ship

Alice flies around to the back where you could see over twenty thrusters plus one large one in the center. She flies just a few hundred feet away from the thrusters. "Now let's talk about the mass. The ship itself carries a whapping eight hundred forty thousand tons. Its normal speed can go up to at least three thousand miles per hour. Impressive right? In battle mode, it can reach up to ultrasonic speed at two thousand miles per hour.

Alice then flies all the way back to the sky deck and lands on her feet. "Now follow Alice to the Hot Shelter" She then walks and falls on her face "Ouch!"

_**Deck 0 The engine/ Water supply/ Energy storage system**_

Alice was crawling outside a huge reservoir. "This is deck zero, the engine/boiler/water supply room. How is the ship powered, you ask? We use clean energy running this large ship. I bet your thinking we use the water for power.

"EEEEHHHHH! WRONG!"

Alice then pulls a chalk board and draws pictures of a machine and water. "We take the salty sea water from the ocean, to retrieve a mineral known as halite. We separate the halite from the water and use it to power the ship. Not only does it give us power, but drinking water as well. Another source is of course solar and wind power. But mostly we use halite, A.K.A sodium chloride, commonly known as salt. Don't believe Alice? That's your problem."

_**Decks 5-7 Ship mate quarters**_

Alice is now crawling down the halls of the ship's quarters. "Now let's talk about the interior. The ship has about fourteen decks. This deck right here is a residential deck. Decks five through seven are where the ships residences sleep. Also there are elevators for easy access to the other decks. Now if you will follow Alice into one of them…."

"Alice, what are you doing?" Alice turns around and sees Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy walk up to her.

"Perfect timing!" Alice grabs Sonic and pulls him in an elevator. "You guys come too!"

"Wait hold on we were going to…YIKE!" Alice pushes all three in the elevator. "Going up…and down…and possibly….left or right"

The elevator swoops down at incredible speed. Alice hears the other four scream in terror while Alice was just standing and humming. When the elevator stops it makes a loud boom.

_**Deck 1 Alice's Lab**_

Alice opens the door and shows everyone her lab. "This is deck one; the laboratory, where Alice does all her experiments."

Sonic gets up rubbing his head. "Ugh…."

"Come along, Son-Son! No time to lose!" Alice grabs Sonic and pulls him to the next area.

_**Deck 2 Sickbay /Prison **_

"Now we go to the next deck!" Alice jumps in the elevator that jerks all the way to the next floor. Sonic and the others were once again on the floor groaning. "Deck two; the infirmary/ prison. This is where we treat the cabin mates…and punish the criminals by making them eat veggies!"

Alice grabs Sonic and leads him into one of the cells. "Our prison cells are actually quite luxurious compared to a normal one. It has a bathroom, a nice bed, a table and a TV"

"Why does it look so nice?" Amy asked

"My daddy is wired like that…."

_**Deck 3-4 Activity and recreational Labyrinth **_

On the next floor, Alice was showing everyone a large hall way with massive doors. "Now we are in decks three through four. Here we have just few of the many qualities here on the sunset. We have rooms for training in each element, a few fun rooms and, each crew member has their very own room where they can train or battle.

"Nice…." Sonic looks around. "So can everyone enter in the rooms?"

"Well not Alice's pushie room. You go in there….Alice will play with you!"

"That doesn't sounds so bad…"

"By turning you into a plushe! How do you think she has so many?" Alice then gives the group a devilish smile, making them nervous. "Next place!"

_**Deck 8 Library/ learning and research center.**_

Everyone was in a huge library that had books as far as the eye can see. Tails Knuckles and Amy were looking at few books, while Sonic was just lounging "The eight deck, or as Alice likes to call it; the think tank. Where here we have a huge library, and study area. Also were the crew has school."

"Like a regular high school?" Amy asked

"Well it's school. Daddy, and Uncy (uncle) and a few others teach the younger crew mates."

"Richter's a teacher?" Sonic asked

"That's scary" Tails replied

_**Deck 9 cafeteria/ lounge area/ indoor swimming pool**_

Everyone was now in the mess hall. "We are now in deck nine; the lounge area/ mess hall/ swimming pool. Don't worry it's not all on the same room. The lounge area is where everyone usually hangs out on the ship. And it's easy to access the outside deck. Also there are recreational things you can do. Like a basketball court , a weight room, and a small spa.

"Wow….you guys really did make this from a cruise ship" Amy complemented

"Yes ma'am! There are also activities you can do on the decks three through five too."

_**Deck 10 the sky deck **_

Everyone was now outside of the ship looking at the sky. "Behold! Deck ten! The sky deck. It pretty much speaks for itself. Here is where the ships residence can run, train and also stare into the sky. On the edges are the cannon turrets for the ships defenses. Although this deck isn't as long as the other 9 decks.

"Kind of like the egg carrier right?" Sonic asked

"Haven't you been paying attention?" Alice asked back

"Guess not…"

_**Deck 11 and 12 The bridge and captain's room. **_

"Welcome to deck eleven, the bridge!" Alice showed the group the large computer room that was a sixth of a mile long, with a large terrace in the middle. "Here the dusk raiders operate the ships commands, during an attack. Mainly the ship is on autopilot, and the captains only control the ship when needed. Up on that balcony is where the main ships controls are. It's also deck twelve. The upper decks are the shortest on the ship.

"This is some very impressive tech…." Tails looks at the computers and the consoles

"Thank you! Alice along with the people of Metal city helped make this ship as sufficient as possible."

"They are the ones who built it?" Knuckles asked

"After daddy salvaged the parts and saved their lives."

"Impressive" Tails complemented

_**Deck 14 Richter's inner sanctum**_

The group arrives at a massive door with a huge sun on it. "We are now at deck fourteen; Daddy's inner sanctum. The ultimate hang out room, meant for parties and also…"

"Wait a minute." Amy interrupted "What happened to deck thirteen?"

"Don't you know anything Mi-Mi? Ships never, never, never, never have a deck thirteen. It's a superstitious thing. Alice doesn't believe it, but Daddy wanted to name it fourteen for some reason.

"huh…" Question marks hovered around everyone's head

"Well…anywho here….is where our tour ends. So let's walk on in" Alice opens the door and looks at the massive room.

The floor was marble, and the pillars and edges were brass. There was a chocolate fountain in the center of the room. A large TV that had every game system hooked too it. A large round table with snacks and food, and a hot spring and the end.

"Whoa….." Everyone said

"And just what do you think you are doing in here?!" the group turns around and sees Richter with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed.

"D-daddy…. " Alice as nervous having had stepped into Richter's private room. "We were just…."

"You guys are too early" Behind Richter was everyone who was a resident on the ship. "Before we step into Holoska, I thought we could have a party for no apparent reason!"

"Alright!" Sonic cheered seeing everyone run in.

Within seconds everyone was partying in the room. Alice peaks out of the room seeing Quinn fly in with the others.

"Well that's all the time the author gave to Alice! Till next time! Bye! YAAHHH!" She closes the door behind her.


End file.
